


You Give Me Butterflies

by EvenEth13



Series: You Give Me Butterflies [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Clueless Michael, Comedy, Deals With The Devil, Devil Business, Duty, Ella Likes Bad Boys, F/M, Family, Flirting, Flowers, Fun Chloe, Fun Michael, Girls Night Out, Humor, In Love Michael, Murder, Night Club Life, Protective Michael, Responsibility, Sad Chloe Decker, Sweet Michael, laughs, peacocking, sex-talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26501452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenEth13/pseuds/EvenEth13
Summary: Michael finds himself living his twin brother’s life. He has to keep up appearances for the club and ensure Lucifer’s favors are met. He gets to live the lifestyle of the Devil; sex, drugs, women, and the occassional male. All cards on the table, except for the Detective. He’s fine with that… he has his eyes on a certain forensic lab tech.*Deckerstar in Chapter 5 only
Relationships: Chloe Decker & Michael, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Ella Lopez & Michael, Ella Lopez/Michael, Michael & Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Michael & Mazikeen
Series: You Give Me Butterflies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061729
Comments: 90
Kudos: 140





	1. This Charming Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blondie2000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blondie2000/gifts), [SilverDragonflyMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDragonflyMoon/gifts), [vrskaandrea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vrskaandrea/gifts).



> My very first Ella and Michael shipping story... how I got to this point I will never know.  
> I hope you like it, Blondie2000, SilverDragonMoon, and vrskaandea.

Michael was just as shocked as Amenadiel to hear his dear twin brother had reached out and sought out a favor. Lucifer needed someone to keep an eye on Lux and the Detective. It would have been given the task to Amenadiel, but with the baby… he needed someone more… ideal. He needed himself and the only other person similar to himself was Michael. So he swallowed his pride and sought out Michael.

Michael wasn't against it, the Silver City was getting a tad boring for his liking. And after all, Lucifer and Michael were indeed two sides of the same celestial coin. Putting on the persona of the Devil was something Michael was excited about. It was a wonder that Michael had not been sent to Hell as well. The two were oddly similar... Must have been the timing and inability to think bigger. 

So he took the favor, he wasn’t doing anything in Heaven. Michael was more than happy to play dress up and parade around the City of Angels being his brother. He always wanted to be like him. Live the life of sin and take what he wanted. 

The only catch. Oh and there was a big one. Michael couldn’t flirt with Chloe. She was off the table. No touching. No flirting. No working at all with her. He was free to assist, but any consulting had to be done under his alias. He was there to keep up appearances and be a stand in, nothing more. 

It was a fair deal. He took his brothers little favor in exchange for the man who’d given him his slouch. Oh, how Michael couldn’t wait to get his hands on Sandalphon. He wondered where he went off to. After all this time, his brother was hiding him out in Hell. Lucifer barely uttered his exchange once he said the traitor's name. It was a deal, right there and then. He didn’t care what else came after the name, all he wanted was Sandalphon.

So he took the favor. 

The deal was, once Lucifer was done cleaning up his mess in Hell, Michael would get the creatine who disfigured his back. It was a done deal. Nothing special, nothing complicated.

Michael was sure he got the better end of the deal. He could do as he pleased and have a jolly ol’ time. The women were a bonus he never knew he needed. The men… he wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he kept up his brother’s reputation. Afterall, he was supposed to play the part and keep up appearances. 

It had been roughly a week since Lucifer had left, before Michael ran into the Detective. She took Michael’s arrival as well as anyone would when you found out the love of your life had a secret twin…

She shot him. 

In mid intercourse, with a rather lovely lady by the name of Opal. 

In her defence, she didn’t know he was Michael. She thought Lucifer was on another one of his vacations that led to him hooking up with another rando. Too afraid to deal with her declaration of love for him. Too afraid to admit the two were finally at a part in their lives where things could finally move forward. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Sadly, Michael was the victim of Chloe’s mishap. 

The shot to the shoulder came as a surprise. He never knew the Detective had it in her to shoot the love of her life… correction, the face of the love of your life. 

_Well… No fury like a woman scorned, I guess._

Things were cleared up once he got a moment to talk. Bravo to Chloe, she delivered an award winning speech about his sleazy brother. He applauded her for her range of vocabulary. When her speech failed to show any sympathy she knew it wasn’t Lucifer. The lack of an accent was a dead giveaway before the lack of blood. 

Leave it up to Lucifer to forget to tell Chloe of his arrival. She apologized profusely, but he knew he deserved it. He should have ensured the Detective knew about his whereabouts before he took on his brother’s mantle. He deserved the bullet to the shoulder. Did poor Opal deserve to see him projected off of her mid thrust? No. 

The poor girl would forever be traumatized. Oh how he’d miss her, her butt cheeks would forever be imprinted in his mind as she hightailed out of the penthouse in nothing but the bed sheets. 

The two had a nice laugh as everything was cleared up. Chloe was relieved to know she hadn’t actually hurt Michael. She acted on reflex and rage. Michael assured her he was fine. Tickled at best. He made a show to shoot himself to prove he was fine, but she pulled the gun out of his hands immediately. 

Accidental shooting aside, Chloe and Michael turned out to be good friends. 

Whenever Chloe would find her way over to Lux, Michael would make sure she was well taken care of. Nothing but the best for his new friend. If she wanted to drink herself under the table, he’d make sure she was doing it responsibly. 

He would ensure the building was safe for the Detective. He’d keep an endless night of fun laid out for her to have. Because that’s what you did for friends, right? You ensured they were dealing with their heartaches with large amounts of alcohol and fun. 

At least that is what he was told. His research with a few drunken humans told him that. And that was what you did for friends… you supplied the alcohol and kept a watchful eye on them. 

He had Lux. The place was practically a bottomless pit of alcohol. This way he could keep a watchful eye on Chloe and make sure she was being well taken care for. Kill two birds with one stone. 

If she wanted to chat about his brother, he’d lend his ear. If she wanted the bed up in the penthouse, he’d sleep in the guest bedroom. Whatever the Detective needed, Michael made himself disposable. Afterall, it was his part of the deal, but also his duty as a friend, to make sure she was handling his brother’s absence with grace. 

The longer his brother’s time in Hell dragged out, he noticed a certain demon latching herself onto Chloe. He didn’t approve, but Mazikeen was starting to grow on him. Surprisingly, she was the spitting image of her mother, and well… he could never say no to Lilith. The woman had a way of getting what she wanted. Seemed Mazikeen took after her mother. 

With Mazikeen watching over Chloe a majority of the time, it gave Michael the opportunity to live his brother’s lifestyle more freely. The endless mass of women and drugs grew tired after a while. After a few awkward run-ins with Chloe, he put his sexual adventures to bed. It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He wanted the atmosphere the Devil thrived in, he wanted to extort his power. _Fear._

After looking over his brother's deal ledgers, he realized Lucifer had become rather lax with his deals as of late. There were some late deals that called for payment. 

Michael couldn’t let these go unattended. No, no, no. This wouldn’t do. 

He found his calling. His hail mary that would get him through his time on Earth. He’d become a lone shark of some sorts and collect on his brother’s contracts. Of course he couldn’t do this alone. He hired Mazikeen to track down his targets. It was a win-win situation. She got to hunt high profiled individuals of the Los Angeles area and he got to beat the living shit out of them if they failed to deliver on their side of the contract. 

Of course he couldn’t limit it between the two of them. He had to include the bouncers in on the fun. He couldn’t dedicate all his time to punishing humans, he had to be there for Chloe and the club. So he recruited a couple of men to take the load off his back. 

In total, there were twenty-four recipients who had failed to hold up their end of the bargain. He made sure he only collected on deals his brother had marked for due dates. He was surprised to see half of them expired four years ago. Right around the time his brother started working as a consultant. He blamed the LAPD, Lucifer had grown soft and let his client slack on their dues. No worries, Michael was here to pull the Devil’s reputation back up from the gutters. 

He pulled all contracts out from the twenty-four recipients. They range all the way from small business owners all the way to Hollywood's finest. 

Maze was more than welcome to help Michael out, at a price of course. But Michael knew she was in it for the torture and Devil business. He could see the spark in her eyes as Michael put on the mask. It was like the Devil never left Los Angeles. It was like the good ol’ times for her. 

As Michael and Maze worked hand in hand collecting in on contracts, it seemed their work attracted the attention of the LAPD. It wasn’t illegal to extort past favors from unwilling clients… 

At least that’s what Mazikeen had informed Michael. He was having a hard time understanding human law. 

On multiple occasions, Chloe had informed them to stop their little side business. It wasn’t legal and brought too much attention back to Lucifer’s name. Michael never listened. Maze explained that bringing attention to Lucifer’s name was exactly what they wanted to do. 

It soon turned into a never ending battle of hiding everything from Chloe. They got smarter and handled business with more stealth. 

Unfortunately, for Michael one of his shake downs got a little too rough that attracted the attention of the police. Chloe and a whole police squadron found themselves in front of Lux at the early hours of the morning. The sun had yet to rise. Due to the connection between Chloe and Lucifer, the police station gave the case over to Dan. He called her once he heard the body drop location. 

Police were all over Lux, inside and out. A few employees were pulled aside so they could await questioning and Michael was standing off to the side ignoring Chloe’s explanation of what was happening. It wasn’t until he heard “dead body” that she finally caught his attention. 

“A dead body outside Lux? I’m sorry Chloe, but I fail to see how this connects to me and the club.”

“A dead body drops outside Lux with signs of assault and you don’t see how you’re connected?”

“Well yes...” 

Officers were rummaging through the place, looking for a possible murder weapon. Michael spun around annoyed she had allowed the cops inside without a search warrant. 

“No sign of a gun, Detective. Would you like us to question the employees?”

“Yes, don’t allow anyone to leave until we’re gotten a statement from every single one. Oh and Larry,” the officer stood tall waiting for orders. “Detective Espinoza is the lead Detective on the case, report to him please, not me.”

The officer nodded his head and took off to do as she asked. Michael rolled his eyes and made his way over to the bar. He needed a drink. Chloe followed close behind ready to chew his head off. 

“I see you’ve continued to ignore my pleas to stop torturing civilians.” She motioned towards his hands. His hands were pretty beat up, but healing nonetheless. He reached over the bar and grabbed himself a bottle of rum.

“It’s not torturing if they refuse to deliver on their part of a contract they signed with my brother.”

“Michael!” she took a deep breath and pulled him off to the side. She lowered her voice as she yelled at him, “there’s legal ways to get these people to follow through on their contracts. Why are you not looking at the legal aspect of these problems?”

“Because I like to get my hands dirty. You’ve sure as Hell taken sex away from me. We both know I can’t handle drugs. So the only thing left I have to make me happy is slapping around a few humans.”

She closed her eyes to prevent herself from yelling at one of the oldest being in the universe. Times like these made her sad. He was acting exactly like Lucifer. His lack of human law made him a wild card. 

“Can someone account for your whereabouts for the past few hours?” Chloe asked. 

“The entirety of Lux, I was working late into the night.” Michael lifted the glass up to his lips. 

“I asked around and Kyle informed me you closed the club down early. So do you want to fill me in on how Mr. Harvey was found dead outside Lux beaten pretty bad with a gunshot to the chest?” 

“Charles is dead? That’s the body they found out on the side of Lux?” 

“Indeed. How well do you know the victim?”

“He’s a name in Lucifer’s ledgers...”

Chloe took a deep breath, she had told him time and time again to stop looking into Lucifer’s ledgers. “Want to explain to me how he managed to walk out and get shot down?”

“I didn’t kill him!” 

She didn’t believe for one second he did, but he was responsible for assaulting the man. She knew by now that Michael only ever beat people up when they refused to comply with him. If Mr. Harvey was withholding information from Michael to deserve the beating he’s received, he had to be hiding something. 

“I roughed him up a bit, but I didn’t kill him. The bastard was supposed to come back with my payment this afternoon.” 

“What was his payment?” 

Ella chose that moment to join the conversation. She looked over Michael curiously, this was the first time she was going to talk with the man. She had only ever seen him from a distance. As badly as she wanted to introduce herself with a huge hug, Michael was covered in possible evidence. 

She had been debriefed; his outfit was the same as last night. Telling by the blood on his rolled up sleeves, she found it to be true. Right now, this was professional. 

“I… uh… have to take samples from Michael to test him for gunpowder residue and other things… can I?” 

Chloe gave the two the area. She was too busy fuming with anger to deal with Michael at the moment. She walked over to Dan to hear what he had found out.

Ella politely asked Michael to have a seat at the table. He complied and never took his eyes off the small woman. Ella pulled out her lab kit and asked for Michael to place his hands on the table. He did as he was told and smiled at her. She was rather pretty. 

She didn’t seem to notice he was staring. It was probably for the best. He was staring rather intensely. He couldn’t help it, she was pretty for a lab geek. Every time she looked up, he made sure to avoid his gaze. That put a smile on her face.

“I uh… for the record don’t think you killed Charles Harvey.” That sparked his interests. He tilted his head to the side and watched as Ella looked over his hands. 

“Is that so? May I ask how you came to that conclusion?” 

She didn’t answer right away. She took her time taking pictures of his hands from different angles. She then moved on to running a testing swab over his knuckles and palms. 

He wasn’t sure if she was creating suspense or generally trying to come up with an answer. Either way, he kept quiet and watched her work. 

When she was done she bagged the samples and took the seat on the side Michael. 

“You’re Lucifer brother and I know a brother of Lucifer’s wouldn’t be capable of murder. He trusted you with his home, no brother would entrust that much trust in a sibling who would be capable of murder.”

“I’m capable of a lot of things Miss?” he politely asked. 

“Lopez. I uh,” she let out a nervous chuckle, “My name is Ella Lopez.”

“Ah! The infamous Ella Lopez! It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The two shared a smile until Michael broke contact. He pulled back his hands and placed them on his lap. “As I was saying… I am capable of many things, but you’re right. I would never murder anyone. Goes against father’s rules.”

“Ah right!” she nodded her head. “God. The Devil! Which would make you… archangel Michael? The protector of all things good and evil.” She gave Michael a wink to show she could too play along. Michael just shrugged his shoulders and picked at his knuckles. 

“So history likes to remind me.”

“Are you an actor as well?” Ella asked. 

She undoubtedly could not for the life of her get herself to accept that celestials were all around her. Michael lets out a chuckle. 

“No, afraid I’m not well versed in singing and dancing. No manager would dare sign this old riff raff.” He liked that she didn’t know he was an angel, so he played along with her ideology. 

“Don’t worry buddy, there’s a role out there for you.” Michael couldn’t help but laugh. He appreciated her innocence. 

Determined to keep their conversation going, Ella asked for Michael’s hands once more. He lifted them back up to the table and laid his palms out on the glass. She lifted her camera up and began taking a few pictures of his bruised knuckles once more. The whole time Michael couldn't take his eyes off the woman in front of him. 

“You have one Hell of a left hook, were you ever a boxer?” 

Michael didn’t catch what she said, the look of confusion gave away he didn’t quite hear what she had to say. So she repeated herself. “Did you box back in the day?”

“Me?” he let out a chuckle, “no.”

“I’ve seen hands like yours before, I could have sworn those calluses were from fighting…”

“Oh they’re from fighting, but I never fought for sport.”

“Rough childhood?” 

“You could say that,” he opened and clenched his fist to see the calluses she was talking about. 

“They say to wear them with pride. You know… to remember where you are now,” she looked up to him and gave Michael a smile. She quickly broke contact and tapped the table with her finger. “But I would totes keep the roughing people up on the down low.” Michael found it amusing the way she tried to lower her voice so the cops wouldn’t know he was the one who beat Charles up. “Wouldn’t want to have those hands of yours registered as weapons.”

Michael brought his hands close to his body and hid them under the table, “I suppose you’re right… tell me, if you think I didn’t murder Charles, why are you wasting your time taking pictures of my hands and swabing for gun powder residue?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “protocol. I also have to match the injuries on his body to the injuries to your hands. But going by your knuckles…” she waved Michael over so he could show her his hands once more. “It looks like you might not be who roughed Mr. Havey up.”

“What gives you that impression?” He was curious. He was the one who roughed Charles up, but he wanted to know her reasoning. 

Ella scooted closer to Michael and took his hands in her. His body instantly flared up and became all too aware of how close she was to him. He looked down at their hands and listened to what she had to say.

“Your knuckles are healing. Which shows these bruises are from at least three days ago. Mr. Harvey’s attacker should have a more recent damage to the knuckles.” She ran her finger over his calluses, he wasn’t sure she even knew she was doing it. Ella shook her head to draw herself out of thought. “Which means you couldn’t have been Mr. Harvey’s attacker,” she finished explaining, dropping his hands. 

Saddened by the loss of their close proximity, Michael leaned forward as if to tell her a secret.

“Or I’m an extremely fast healer.”

“You know you’d be admitting to assaulting a dead man, right?”

“Fine don’t believe me,” he pulled back and leaned backwards into his chair. He kept a devilish smile on his face as Ella tried to get the honest truth out of him. 

There was something about him that Ella couldn’t quite pinpoint. She stared him down trying to see if he was lying or not, but in the end she just couldn’t tell. She’d have to look over the impact report with the coroner. For the meantime, she had to get back to work. She pulled her eyes away from Michael and walked over to her bag. 

She was leaving. Michael stood up in his seat and tried at a last attempt to keep her around. 

“Thank you,” he called out.

She stopped and turned around to understand Michael’s sentence. “Why are you thanking me?” 

“For having this nice chat with me. It’s been sometime since I’ve enjoyed the company of someone other than Maze or my employees… also something about having a beautiful lady like yourself defend my honor, has me perplexed” He gave her his best smile. She immediately blushed.

“I uh…” she let out a nervous chuckle, “no sweat!” She was full on blushing and couldn’t form coherent words. “I uh… I kinda gotta get back to work. You know… looking at dead bodies and taking pictures... It was nice talking to you, Michael.” 

She backed up right into a booth making her knock her hip into the table. She let out a hiss. Before Michael could jump off the chair she turned around and retreated to her work. Chloe walked right over, interested in why Ella was acting so weird. 

“What did you do to her?” Chloe asked. 

“Nothing… we were just talking…” he pulled his eyes from Ella and looked down at Chloe. “Say, does Miss Lopez have a boyfriend?” 

Michael looked over to the other side of the room to get a look of Ella once more. Chloe jumped in front of him and prevented him from disturbing Ella and her work. 

“Michael no… she’s not to be messed with. Keep your hands to yourself.”

“My hands are to myself,” he lifted them up to her. “See, bruised and all to myself.” Chloe shook her head. 

“Please keep away from Ella, she is sweet and innocent. She does not need you distracting her from her job.”

“I’m not even bothering her, I just asked if she had a boyfriend. I hardly think Miss Lopez is all innocent, she has…” he shook his head, he couldn’t pinpoint the word. He looked down at Chloe and smiled. “So is she taken or not?” Chloe rolled her eyes at Michael.

  
  



	2. Why Do Fool Fall In Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy everyone likes the story! I've already pushed the story by a chapter... may extend it again... 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Michael let out a hearty laugh as Chloe withheld the answer from him. She was being overprotective and he knew why:

He wasn’t human. 

He didn’t live a calm life. 

And he practically beat people up for a living. 

There were a couple of things going against him at the moment. He just hoped she knew he would never hurt her or any of his brother’s friends. He tried proving that to her on multiple occasions. 

Chloe wasn’t the most cautious person in the world. She’d given him a run for his money. He had pulled her out of shoot outs, bar fights, alcohol poisonings, and even the occasional inappropriate groping. All acts of violence on her behalf were in her honor and for her protection. He really was a teddy bear when you got to know him. 

Still withholding the answer to his question, Michael decided he needed to use the big guns. He got down to her level and gave her his best puppy dogs eyes. Although it was degrading, he knew she could not deny his face. 

He watched her battle on whether or not to give him his answer. He bumped up the charm to make her answer come out faster. Frustrated with his attempts, Chloe pushed his face away and gave him his answer. 

“No she does not,” Michael’s face widened with a grin, “but that doesn’t mean you can go over there and distract her. She needs to work. Remember we are on duty. This is an active case.”

“That’s right,” Dan said. He walked over to the pair and exchanged their special handshake. 

The two had been well acquainted for some time now. In the beginning, the two had gotten off on the wrong hand. Much like Chloe, he acted in violence. A good right hook to the face was delivered when Dan saw Michael getting touchy with a woman here at the club. 

It was a mistake. The man apologized profusely, just like his ex-wife. Michael was fine with it. As humans say, water under the bridge. 

  
  
“I’m afraid your interest in Ella is going to have to wait. We’d like to go over a few things with you,” he patted Michael on the shoulder and turned to Chloe. “So we have a name, Charles Harvey 38 years old.” 

Chloe nodded her head, “found dead on the side of Lux. Ella tells us he’s been dead for about four hours, putting the time of death around one.”

“Security claims Michael called for the club to close down early. Employees that are here claim to not have heard any shots go off. Which correlates, we found the murder weapon…” Dan looked over to Michael, but the angel folded his arms over his chest unfazed. 

“You don’t think Michael did this did you?” Chloe asked. 

Dan shook his head, “no. The gun came back with a silencer in the dumpster. Unless Michael is tempting fate, he can’t be our killer.”

“Told you…”

Chloe raised her hand to stop him from talking. “So this was a hit? What was Mr. Harvey’s occupation?” She asked Dan. 

“Accountant? Not entirely sure. He had a few different business cards in his wallet that we found. Along with money withdrawal receipts. Looks like Mr. Harvey was trying to flee town.”

“Did you know this?” Chloe asked, turning to Michael. 

“Of course I did... He was a smuggler by the way. Charles imported a variety of foreign goods.” 

“How did you even know about this guy?” Dan asked. 

“My brother,” Michael replied. “He’s a name in my brother’s ledgers. I had him brought in to collect on a debt. He was supposed to return this afternoon… looks like I’ll be getting a visit from my brother soon,” he said the last part under his breath. Chloe vaguely caught the end of that but not enough to press on the topic. 

“So he came in last night and what? The two of you got into a heated discussion and you told everyone to leave?” 

“I wasn’t in a good mood last night so I asked everyone to leave. The two are unrelated. Mazikeen brought Charles in because he was seen trying to flee town. He had been dodging us for weeks, it wasn’t until he tried withdrawing money that Mazikeen was able to track him down.”

“If Mr. Harvey was trying to skip town, maybe he had multiple people looking for him…” Chloe said to herself already trying to work out the angle. 

“What was Mr. Harvey’s payment that he owed Lucifer? It couldn’t have been cash, I’ve seen Lucifer drop half a million just to bail someone out of jail. So what was smuggling for you and Lucifer?” Dan crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Michael to answer. 

“He wasn’t smuggling anything. He was supposed to stop by with a stone...”

A stone? Chloe and Dan looked at each other confused. It wasn’t something they would imagine someone would fight over, let alone kill. Before they could ask anymore questions, an officer came over and whispered something in Dan’s ear. The two shared a quick conversation before Dan dismissed the officer.

“Footage came back with confirmation… Michael isn’t our killer.” Michael shot Chloe a look that screamed for a slap. She knew he didn’t kill their victim. She rolled her eyes and waited for Dan to continue. “Outside cameras caught our shooter wiping the gun clean and tossing it into the dumpster. The camera only got a parcial shot of the killer's license plate. I had Larry call it in and have the precinct run the plate through the system.”

“That’s good. We have a license plate number, hopefully we're able to find the killer fast.” She turned to Michael, “do you have an idea on who would want to kill Mr. Harvey?” 

Michael shrugged, “Loan sharks… Desperate ex-wives? The man was a mess. He barely gave me any information. The only thing he would tell me was that I wasn’t the only one he was running from. I asked if he wanted me to help, but he refused making another deal.”

“Do you think one of the people he was trying to get away from could be responsible for Mr. Harvey’s death?” Chloe asked. 

“Maybe… I don’t know. He was more afraid of me than the other guys. Deals with my brother aren’t a joke.” 

“Do you think you can recall any names Mr. Harvey may have mentioned when you were… interrogating him?” Dan asked. 

“He really didn’t give any name up, as I said, he refused any help.”

“If you remember any names, it’d help a lot. Do you think Maze would know any?”

“Possibly… I can give her a call if you’d like.”

“I would,” Dan nodded his head. 

“Excellent!” Michael clapped his hands together and looked over to Ella. She was back in the club, writing down information in her journal. It looked like she was finishing up with her report. “Now, if you’d excuse me, seeing as I’ve given all the information I possess… I’d like to ask Miss Lopez a question.” He waved his hand in the air, trying to grab her attention, “Oh Miss Lopez!”

Ella looked up from her journal and turned in the direction Michael called out from. As she made eye contact with Michael, a red blush fell upon her face. 

He managed to get two steps in before Maze came busting into the club. She looked mad. Everyone’s heads turned in her direction and watched as she charged after Michael. Ella lifted her journal up to her face to try and hide her curiosity of why Maze was mad at Michael. She watched closely as Maze pulled Michael close so she could whisper something in his ear. 

She noticed Michael’s facial expressions stayed stoic, they didn’t show any expression as Maze relayed a secret. 

“I’m afraid I have pressing matters to attend to.” He said, addressing the Detectives. “Am I free to leave?” he asked. Chloe regretfully nodded her head before Dan could give the okay. 

Maze didn’t look too pleased. She wondered if it had anything to do with the dead body outside Lux.

“Remember what we discussed, message Chloe if you get a name!” Dan called out as the two walked up the stairs to the elevator. 

“Yes, don’t worry Detectives. I have full confidence you’ll find the killer!” He shot Ella a smile when he found her staring up at him. 

Maze pulled Michael up the stairs and into the elevator. They had pressing matters to discuss without the police around. 

____________________________

  
  


Maze pulled Michael up to the penthouse to get away from noisey listeners. The last thing she wanted was for Chloe to hear what she had to say. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Michael took off his watch and placed it over the piano. He beelined for the bar and helped himself to a glass of vodka. 

When Maze walked over, he pulled a glass out for her as well. She appreciated the offer. When he finished pouring her a glass, she took it into her hands. 

“Thanks,” she said. The two clinked their glasses together and took a sip. 

“Mind telling me where you’ve been for the past four hours?”

“I did as you asked me, I went after Hank. I kept an eye on him, but he got the upper hand on me and knocked me out, outside the Viper Room…”

“He knocked you out?” Michael let out at chuckle as the unbelievable sentence came out of Maze’s mouth. “A human got the upper hand on Hell’s best demon?” 

“Shut it. The man is crafty.”

“Crafty? What did he do, build a trap?” He pulled away from the bar and over to the tall table. “You disappoint me Mazikeen… if I knew you couldn’t keep an eye on the man, I would have hired Manny to do the job instead.” 

Maze pulled out her knife and pressed it against Michael’s back. The knife poked at his injury. It sent Michael’s gripping onto the table in a massive amount of pain. He was barely able to keep myself up as Maze pressed on his weak spot. 

“Say that again and I’ll shove this in your back,” she threatened. 

Unable to take the pain any longer, Michael waved his hand in the air to call her off. She immediately pulled the knife off his back and let him regain his composure. 

“Sandalphon really did a number on you, didn’t he?” 

“Yes…” He said with no emotion. He rolled his shoulder to test it’s rotation. His right side was never going to be the same, not unless he got Sandalphon to reverse what he did. “Attempt that again and you will be sorry.”

Maze shot him a smile, she loved pushing Michael’s buttons. In fact, they both like pushing each other’s buttons. She knew the comment he made wasn’t genuine. 

Maze rubbed the right side of his back as a peace offering and walked back over to the bar. She made her way behind the bar and looked for something stronger than what Michael offered.

“Do you think Hank had enough time to kill Charles?” Michael asked. 

Maze finished pouring herself a class of tequila before she answered Michael. She turned around and leaned against Lucifer’s private bar. 

“It’s possible. I was out for twenty minutes. I didn’t think to come back to Lux. Did Chloe mention how he was killed?”

“Shot to the chest… apparently a silencer was used. Did Hank have a gun on him when you had eyes on him?”

“Yeah… shit! Did Chloe mention what caliber the bullet was?” 

“I didn’t go over the logistics of the case. As I was too busy getting screened for killing a man!” he snapped. 

He didn’t mean to yell, he was just upset he wouldn’t be collecting on a deal for his brother. Michael sighed to calm down his nerves. Three seconds and he was calm. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he repeated to himself. “If Hank is the killer, do the LAPD a solid and go get the bastard. Feel free to have fun with him. Afterall, he did prevent us from collecting Lucifer's favor…”

“I get the feeling this wasn’t about the favor and more about the stone Harvey promised.”

Michael kept his response to himself. Of course he was more upset that he wouldn’t know the whereabouts of the stone. 

“It's the stone you wanted, why?” she asked with curiosity. She pushed herself off the bar and over to Michael. He rolled his eyes and took the glass from her hands. 

“Personal reasons… go catch your bounty. I’ll meet you at the precinct when you’ve returned the bastard over to the police.” He finished her drink and placed the glass on the piano. 

“You’re heading to the precinct? For what?” she watched as Michael made his way over to the closet. 

“Felt I could stretch my wings…” he was already shedding himself of his current clothing. Maze walked up the stairs to watch Michael undress. He was almost out of his boxers when he caught Maze lurking around the corner. “Do you mind?”

“No,” she said with a smile. 

“Out, you have a killer to catch.” When Maze refused to leave, he gave up and dropped his boxers. 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him naked before. He made his way over to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Maze followed close behind. 

“Can I help you, Mazikeen?”

She didn’t answer him. Michael gave up and stepped into the shower. She watched as Michael stood under the water. Her eyes raked over Michael’s form taking in every second. 

The shower had no doors, it was an open floor plan with a brick wall off to the side. Maze stayed on the other side of the brick wall and leaned against it to watch as Michael applied soap to his body. In all honesty, it was Maze’s wet dream to sleep with Michael. He was the biggest tease. 

When she didn’t answer, he turned away from her. She rolled her eyes and replied back to him. 

“You didn’t mention why you were going to the precinct.” 

“I wasn’t aware I had to inform you about my whereabouts.”

“You don’t, but I’m still curious as to why you are leaving to go to the precinct.”

Michael reached over to the rack and applied some shampoo into his hair. As he was scrubbing the liquid into his hair, he answered Maze. 

“If you must know, I felt I could talk to the forensic scientist about possibly grabbing a bite to eat.” He walked under the water and washed his hair out. He missed the expression on Maze’s face as he uttered his sentence. 

“Ellen? You’re going to the precinct to see Ellen?” she let out a chuckle. “Oh you are barking up the wrong tree, she is way too chipper for you.”

He pulled himself out from under the water and shot Maze a confused look. 

“I can be chipper. I’m not all brooding, you know? And her name is Ella.”

“Ellen, Ella. Same thing,” she waved her hand in the air and walked over to the sink. Michael killed her buzz. She was no longer interested in the naked angel in front of her. 

“Has my brother ever?” he didn’t want the answer but he was at least curious to know if Lucifer had ever hooked up with Ella.

“What? Slept with her? No!” It came out as a laugh. Michael let a smile cross over his face. He wouldn’t have minded, but it was nice to know she was able to resist his brother. Michael continued his shower routine. “So you and Ellen?” Maze said with amusement. 

“Ella,” Michael shook his head. 

“Whatever… so she sparked your interest?” She was generally interested. 

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. I don’t know… there’s something about her that…”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Maze said with no amusement. 

“You’re not jealous now, are you Mazikeen?” 

Maze blew out raspberries, “of course not. Just don’t need to hear about her bubbly nature and wonderful personality,” the last part was overdone, but Michael laughed. “Just try not to hurt her feelings.”

“My my, is the infamous Mazikeen concerned for a human?” 

“No,” she folded her arms across her chest. 

“Mhm… sure. Softy,” he whispered under his breath. “Mind grabbing me a towel?” 

He turned off the faucet and shook his head. Any excess water dripped right off and loosened his curls. When he turned around, Maze was already ready with the towel in hand. He took it and patted his body dry. Once he was done, he wrapped it around his waist. 

“You enjoy the show?” he asked, pushing past her. 

“Always.” She grinned in his direction as he made his way over to the closet.

Maze looked over his back to see the large scar on his right side. It was similar to the mark Lucifer had when he had her cut his wings off, but more defined. It looked more like an electrical scar. She had tried on multiple occasions to get Michael to open up about the incident but he shut her down right away. It was a touchy subject for him. 

She had heard rumors about Michael being tortured, but didn’t know if they were true. She was still pretty sure that wasn’t the case, but the scar… there had to be some truth behind his slouch. 

“Are you going to watch me change or are you actually going to go track down Hank?” he said, pulling her out of her thoughts. 

“I’m waiting for you to hand over the keys to the basement.”

“The basement?” 

“My toys are down there. You really think I’m going to let him off the hook for giving me this bump on my head?”

“Fair point…” Michael walked over to his jacket on the couch and fished out the keys from his breast pocket. He tossed them over to Maze without hesitation. “If he knows where the stone is located, try to get it out of him. I want that stone, Mazikeen.”

She nodded her head and left on the elevator. 

____________________________

  
  


It took him an hour to get presentable. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to wear. He had not been out of the building for some time. He kept bouncing between a suit and casual dress wear. He was nervous. He wanted to come off approachable for Ella. Not too intimidating, not too casual. 

He settled for blue suit pants with a white t-shirt. To top it off, he threw the blue jacket over the shirt. It was just enough to make the outfit both subtle and put together. 

When his hair was ready, he made his way down into Lux. The police had cleared out and gone back to the precinct. He shook his head. He knew he took too long. He had hoped to catch Chloe or Ella before they left, but it was fine. He knew he was going to have to make a trip over to the precinct. 

He walked down the stairs and took in the silence. It was so quiet. Usually a few employees stuck around and hung out. It was weird having the place all to himself. He sighed. 

A ping off his phone drew his attention out of the loneliness. He pulled out his phone and smiled as he received a text from Chloe. 

**_Did Maze give you a name?_ **

He frowned.  _ Could at least say hello first.  _ He shook his head at her lack of manners. 

He knew all along who Charles' killer could be. Afterall, he wouldn’t be good at his job if he didn’t get the name of a competing shark. He swiped up on his screen and started typing out a message for Chloe. 

**_Sorry Darling. Mazikeen was unable to recall a name._ **

Michael watched as the ellipsis popped up on the screen. He doubted she’d believe him but it was worth a shot. He wanted to get some information out of Hank before he was taken into police custody. 

**_That’s alright… Dan got a lead on the car. I just wanted to see if it matched up with yours. Does the name Griff Kelly ring any bells?_ **

That was easier than he thought. He actually didn’t think she’d believe him. She usually saw right through his lies. He made a face of shock as she let that lie slide. He thought of the same. Griff Kelly. The name was foreign to him. 

**_You do know, I don’t know everyone in Los Angeles right?_ **

**_I meant as a reminder. Like did Charles Harvey ever mention the name?_ **

**_Oh… than no._ **

**_Fine. I’ll let Dan know to put a Bolo on Griff Kelly_ **

**_Sorry I wasn’t more helpful_ **

**_That’s alright_ **

**_Oh! I forgot to mention. Lux is to be closed for the night. Lieutenant’s orders_ **

  
  


Michael clicked his phone off.  _ Of course.  _ He placed his phone back in his jacket pocket. 

He walked over to the side entrance and let himself out. 

Michael waved two fingers over at his security guard to notify he was leaving for the morning. George in return, waved Michael off.

The sun was just coming out. The sky was colored in purple and orange. He looked up and smiled. It was rare he got to experience the sun rising. It was one of the few things he still enjoyed about Earth.

He debated whether or not to fly to the precinct or drive. In the end, he pulled his keys out of his pocket. Much like his brother, he had an eye for classic cars. He walked over to the corvette and ran his hand over the hood. The poor thing had been neglected for weeks. 

Chloe had voiced her complaints that no one was to drive it except Lucifer. And to his day he honored that rule. He turned away and smiled at his ‘68 Mustang fastback. Talk about a muscle car. Michael pulled the green door open and slipped inside. He placed the keys in the ignition and listened to the purr. He loved taking the car out into town, he loved the attention he brought. 

Michael pulled open the glove compartment and reached for his sunglasses. Even though the sun was just setting, he knew he’d have the sun in his eyes on the way to the precinct. 

He placed them over his eyes and turned on the radio. 

He shook his head as Latin music played over his speakers. Surprisingly he didn’t change it, he liked the tempo and instruments playing in the background. The lyrics were a bit confusing, but he could get behind the instrumental part of the music. 

Michael pulled out of the parking garage and onto Sunset Boulevard. It was early enough that he could get onto the 101 without running into traffic. 

While driving on the freeway, he realized he couldn’t show up to the precinct empty handed. He wanted to woo Ella. What better way than buying the lady flowers. 

As he got off the freeway and came to a stop at a stoplight, he pulled out his phone and looked up the nearest florist shop open at this hour. He was shocked to see there were a few. He picked the one that was similar to a mom and pop shop. With coordinates punched in, Michael made his way over to Olvera street. 

He laughed to himself as the day brought everything Latin into his life. He took it as a sign from his father. 

Michael hurried and parked over on the side of the road outside Olvera street. The place was just beginning to awaken. He could smell the restaurants prepping their food. He jumped out of his car and headed over into the florist shop. 

He was immediately greeted by two middle aged women. He smiled at them and began speaking to them in Spanish. Shocked that a gringo could talk, the women starred with their mouths hung open. They quickly pulled themselves together and helped Michael out. 

He was in and out with no problem. 

With a small bouquet of peonies in hand, Michael’s next stop was the precinct. 

As his feet touched down in the parking lot, he was overcome with butterflies. A frown fell upon his face. He wasn’t sure what these feelings were. 

He took a deep breath and turned off the car.  _ I can do this. Just ask her if she wants to grab something to eat. It doesn’t have to be a date. Just ask her. The worst she can say is no.  _

His stomach dropped as he thought of the possibility of her actually saying no.  _ She’ll say, yes. She’ll say, yes. She. Will. Say. Yes. Get your ass out of the car and go ask her.  _

He was done talking to himself. He grabbed the bouquet and got out of the car. A few officers had already gathered to compliment Michael on his car. He smiled and excused himself into the precinct. He had a mission. If he stopped to talk to any of the officers, he was afraid he’d chicken out. 

The place was busy. He was overcome with the amount of people inside. The butterflies in his stomach were making it hard for him to process everything around him. The grip on the flowers tightened. He took a deep breath and pushed ahead. 

Luckily having the same face as the Devil had its perks. The officers let him right through with no questions asked. After a few guided directions from passing officers, Michael finally found the bullpen on the bottom floor. 

As he stepped out of the elevator, he began to get nervous. A passing officer commented on his peonies, saying they were lovely. He smiled in response and slowly pushed himself out towards the stairs. 

Once again the pit was busy. He could see Dan and Chloe talking amongst one another. That grounded him. The nerves slowly started to fade as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Flowers still in hand, Michael walked over to Detectives. 

“Why hello Detectives!” Michael sang out with a smile. Both turned around surprised to hear Michael behind them. 

“Michael? Are those… are those flowers?” Chloe asked with surprise. 

“Yes,” he pulled them forward and showed her. “Beautiful aren’t they?” 

Both detectives nodded their heads. It was a beautiful bouquet. They looked at each other wondering who the flowers were for. 

“I came by to see if Miss Lopez was around. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find her, would you?” He fixed the ribbon around the stems and shot them a smile. 

“I see someone has eyes for Ella, are those for her?” Dan teased. Michael panicked, he said the first thing that popped into his head. 

“No... I actually happened to find these out in the lobby. They caught my eye and just had to have them.” It meant to come off sarcastic, but the tone of his voice came off more sincere. 

“Oh… weird, but I’m not judging. Uh, I think Ella stepped out for the morning to go consult with the coroner. Afraid you missed her, buddy.” He slapped a folder across his chest and left Michael alone with Chloe. Michael instantly frowned and dropped the flowers. 

“Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have taken long getting ready.” He brought the flowers up to his nose so he could smell them. Chloe gave Michael a serious face. He ignored her and kept his eyes on the flowers. When he didn’t look at her, she pulled his hand down so he could look at her face. 

_ Yup… I’m in trouble.  _ He told himself. 

“Look at me, Michael.” He used all the power he had to keep his eyes on the ceiling. When her command didn’t work, she pulled his chin down and physically had him look at her. She pulled the sunglasses right off his face and had him look her in the eyes. Michael made a noise as the woman used her inner mom to weaken him. Their eyes met and Michael gave her his biggest smile. “No.”

“No?”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t lie to me.”

He swallowed the last drop of spit in his mouth. He let out a nervous chuckle, “I have no idea what you are talking about, Detective…” 

Chloe scowled at him, he only ever used her title when he was hiding something. 

He broke the tension by bringing the flowers between them, “you wouldn’t mind a bouquet of flowers, would you?” 

That caught her off guard. She dropped his chin and looked at the flowers. 

“I… what?”

Michael tilted his head to the side and made a face, “seems I’m in trouble and in need of a peace offering… here,” he offered them up to her. Chloe took them inside her hands and gave them a sniff. 

“They’re beautiful.”

“They are, aren’t they?” He metally kicked himself for offering up Ella’s flowers. Michael retreated over to Chloe’s desk and had a seat in her chair. Chloe rolled her eyes as Michael used the flowers to distract her. She fell into his trap. She gently placed the flowers down on the desk along with his sunglasses. She sat at the edge of her desk and crossed her arm over her chest. She wasn’t letting him off the hook. 

“Michael,” she said, pulling him out of a daydream. He looked up at her with a smile on his face. 

“Yes Chloe?” She hated when he played stupid. He knew what she was asking. She shot him a look and he immediately folded. “Fine,” he reclined back into the chair with an eye roll. “Yes I lied.” 

  
  



	3. You Make Loving Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You make loving fun" - Fleetwood Mac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who showed interest in this story! Hope this one makes up for no Ella and Michael from the last chapter. Enjoy!

“And there it is!” She threw her hands in the air and brought them back so they rested on her lap. “Now use your big boy words and tell me what you know.”

He grumbled under his breath. 

“I’m sorry, I said big boy words.”

He looked at her annoyed.  _ She does know I’m her senior, right? Father, help my brother.  _ He shook his head and repeated what he said. 

“Yes, I know Griff Kelly…” he lied, again. 

“And what do you know?”  _ Holy Heaven, that worked?  _ Michael played it cool and gave Chloe useless information. 

“Not much,” he looked down at his knuckles and tried to tap into last night's conversation with Charles. He did mention a Kelly, but he thought it was a woman. “To be honest, I thought it was a woman. Seems I misinterpreted the connection…”

Chloe folded her arms across her chest, she wasn’t fully convinced he was giving her all the information. 

“We have footage of you taking Charles into the back room for two hours. Two hours, Michael. You aren’t giving me any information, why?” she was annoyed now. 

“Because it’s not irrelevant to your case. What I talked to Charles about was business.”

“Michael…” She brought her hands together in front of her nose so it was like she was praying. She wasn’t praying, she was trying to prevent herself from verbally assaulting Michael in front of the whole precinct. Chloe took a short deep breath and brought her hands down. “May I remind you I am an officer of the LAPD, not your friend right now.”

“Well that’s rather harsh of you to say Chloe, because I consider you a sister…” 

The two stared at each other as if they were having a staring contest. Neither one of them wanted to stand down. Michael hated it when she used her weight on being an officer and Chloe hated it when he thought he was above the law. 

After a minute, Chloe looked away. She stood from spot on the desk and gave herself a minute to calm down. It was times like these that were the hardest for her. Michael and Lucifer were identical when it came to their secrets. Of course Lucifer never lied, he told the truth, but at the time she thought they were lies. With Michael physically lying to her face and keeping the truth from her, just showed how much she missed Lucifer. It broke her heart. She missed having her partner with her. 

Michael stood from the chair and walked over to Chloe. He hesitantly laid his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. 

He knew he was being difficult and her anger was because of him. He brought her into a hug and let her just forget for a second. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and imagined he was Lucifer. 

“I’m sorry,” he said against her hair. “If the car belonged to Griff Kelly I would look into it. I don’t know the guy, but I can tell you it’s probably a lead. I can also tell you, Mazikeen is one the job, but nothing more.”

“Maze is looking for Griff Kelly?” she said, pulling away from Michael. He pulled his arms off of her and she did the same. The two stepped out of each other's embrace and went back to talking about the case. 

“Maze is looking for Charles’ killer, if the killer is Griff Kelly, she’ll find him. She has an hour lead on the LAPD. No doubt she’ll find him by the end of the day.”

“Oh… then why did you bother lying to me?”

Michael shrugged, “I like ryeling you up,” he playfully punched her shoulders. She slapped his fists away, but showed the first sight of a smile since he offered her the flowers. “Oh look! A smile!” He turned around and plucked a flower out from the bouquet. He snapped off the long stem and placed it behind her ear. “For good fortune.” 

“You’re a kiss ass, you know that?”

He shot her a smile and pinched her cheek, “I know.” 

She rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the way. She plopped herself on her desk and pulled her phone off the desk. She began typing out a message for Dan informing him Maze was already out looking for Griff Kelly. Once the message was sent she looked up to see Michael looking for someone. 

“Looking for Ella?” 

Michael turned around shaking his head. 

“Michael,” she said with a serious tone. 

“Fine… yes. How long do you think it’ll be until she returns?”

“Michael… I told you to leave her, to her work. She doesn’t need you distracting her.”

“I won’t distract her, I promise. I just want to ask her out on a date.”

“A date?” she found that hard to believe. Michael had never shown any interest in women and when he did, it was for one night stands. Nothing more. 

“Yes. If not a date, a bite to eat. She has to eat right? What time is it?” he pulled his arm out so he could look at his watch. “It’s nine thirty-seven … a little early for lunch, but I’m willing to wait.”

“You want to take Ella out for lunch? What’s your angle?” she really wasn’t buying anything he was saying. 

“No angle, just want to treat Miss Lopez out for lunch. She intrigued my interest while she was taking samples of my hands.”

Chloe leaned forward and lowered her voice, “you know she doesn’t know you're an angel, right? You can’t go blabbing.”

“Blabbing? I highly doubt she’d believe anything I have to say even if I did ‘blab’,” he made sure to use air quotes to express his point. “She’s known my brothers for how long? And she doesn’t believe them. Her innocence to celestials existing will stay in tack.”

He had a point. She didn’t believe Lucifer until she saw his face. Dan still refused to believe Michael. 

“Fine… she left about thirty minutes ago. She should…” Chloe saw Ella out of the corner of her eye. She used her eyes to notify Michael that Ella was behind him. His eyes widened and he began dusting off his shirt. Chloe smiled as she watched Michael try to correct his features. 

Ella walked over into her lab ignorant that Michael was in the vicinity. Michael watched her head inside. He had butterflies. He wasn’t sure he could do this. He turned to Chloe with a panicked look on his face. 

“What?”

“I just remembered she could say no to me. The thought of rejection never felt so terrifying until now…”

Chloe let out a chuckle, “look at you. I’ve never seen you so on edge.” Michael turned away from her so she didn’t sense his nervousness next. Chloe leaned over her table and applied her hand to his lower back. She pushed him in the direction of Ella’s lab. “Go before I call her over.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” he turned around scared. Chloe let out a laugh, but bit her tongue. He looked back over to Ella and watched her move about her lab. “Jacket on or off?” he was already taking his jacket off. She didn’t understand why he even asked. He tossed it over to her smacking her right in the face. “Apologises…” 

He pulled a flower out of the bouquet and slowly made his way over to Ella. 

“He’s going to fall flat on his ass…” Chloe said to herself. She shook her head when she saw Michael let himself into Ella’s lab. She went ahead and pulled out her phone to message Maze. She already had a message from Dan. 

____________________________

  
  


Michael’s feet seemed to drag as if he had cement blocks tied to the bottom. His heart was beating out of his chest. He couldn’t feel his tongue. The flower in his hand seemed to shake as he walked closer to Ella’s lab. 

Afraid he say something embarrassing, Michael cleared his throat to notify Ella he was at her door. He quickly hid the flower behind his back to keep it a secret. 

Ella looked up from her notes and let the biggest smile spread across her face. She was happy to see him. 

Michael felt the wave of anxiety that built up from Chloe’s desk to Ella’s front door, wash away. 

“Well if it isn’t the infamous Michael, come in, come in.” She motioned for him to step inside. Michael did as he was instructed and slid into the room. “It’s nice to see you out of the club. I started to think Lucifer had you chained to the inside of the building.”

Michael let out a soft chuckle, “I leave from time to time. Rarely… but I do.” 

He could tell she was joking with him, so he played along. Interested to know her work space, Michael moved over to the other side of the room and looked over her lab equipment. Ella closed up her folders and watched Michael move about her area. 

It gave her time to look over his form. She couldn’t keep her eyes from raking over his body. She had to admit he was more toned than Lucifer. His biceps alone were the size of her head. She fanned herself with her folder as he turned away and showed his backside to her. 

“You have a nice work space,” he called out. Ella put the folder down when he turned around. She had not heard a word Michael had just said. She was too busy looking at his ass. 

“I’m so sorry,” she let out a nervous chuckle, “can you repeat what you just said?” 

Michael oblivious to what distracted her, just smiled. “I said you have a nice work space.”

“Oh! No yeah. I’m blessed they gave me such a large work area. You should have seen mine back in Chicago,” she made a face remembering how small it was, “budging was  _ pretty _ tight.”

“Is that why you move over here?” 

She shrugged her shoulders, “I can’t really explain what made me want to head over to the west coast. Glad I did.”

Michael walked over to her table and hid the flower in his back pocket, he wasn’t ready to give it to her just yet. He leaned against the table top and waited for her to continue. 

“Why’s that?” he asked. 

She shrugged her shoulders, “I kinda had a rough past. I’m sure you can relate to that,” she motioned towards his hands. 

He pulled himself up off the table and hid his hands, “oh! I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

“No no… that’s fine. You’re right. My past is a little…” he wasn’t sure how to word his past. He settled for a facial expression. 

“Totally understand, not going to bring up those memories.”

Michael let out a chuckle, “I’m not fragile, you know? I’m alright with talking about my past.”

“We don’t have to talk about that, we just met… and…”

“Right!” he smiled over at her and pulled the flower out his back pocket. Her eyes widened as he pulled it out of nowhere. She knew he was hiding something but she didn’t expect it to come out of nowhere. 

“Where did you…”

He winked at her, “magic.” She playfully pushed him away and took the single peony out of his hand. “Sorry it’s not a bouquet, afraid my back pocket wasn’t designed for anything bigger than a single flower.”

“Thank you,” she brought it up to her nose so she could smell it. 

“I know you have to get back to work and I can feel the eyes of a certain Detective spying on us,” the two looked over to the front door and saw Chloe trying to be inconspicuous. Chloe turned away immediately. They both laughed as they caught her. “So I’ll make this quick and get out of your way... I was wondering if I could take you out for lunch today.”

Ella pulled her eyes up to Michael and nodded her head. “I’d like that.”

The two held each other’s focus for a while just smiling at one another. They heard footsteps walking towards them, followed by a knock. They finally pulled from each other's gaze when Chloe cleared her throat. 

“Dan got a call saying they found Griff Kelly’s car abandoned over in La Brea park. We’re going to need you at the scene Ella.” Chloe left to give the two room to say goodbye. 

“I… seems I gotta go, again... Raincheck on the lunch?”

“Oh… you don’t think you’ll be done in time for lunch?” 

Ella shook her head and placed the flower on her desk. She started collecting her forensic bag when Michael stopped her. He picked the flower up from her desk and placed it behind her ear. 

“Since I know how time consuming your work can be, how about we push back our plans and move it over to dinner instead of lunch?”

“Oh… I’m not entirely dressed for a dinner date…” she looked down at her childish t-shirt. Michael had not even noticed the tiger with sunglasses print on her chest. He shot her a smile and dismissed the worry. 

“Nothing fancy then…. We can grab burgers or hotdogs over in La Brea…”

“La Brea? You do know it’s not going to take me all day to go over the car right?”

“I know… I was jumping back to lunch.”

“You’re persistent aren’t you?” Ella had to give it to Michael, he wasn’t standing down. 

“Is that a deal breaker? Because if it is, I can totally wait until you’re off work to take you out for dinner instead. Tiger shirt and all included.”

Ella shook her head, “No it’s not. I like a man who doesn’t back down.” She turned over to the front door and gave Chloe a signal to give her another minute. Chloe tapped at her wrist signaling her to hurry. Ella turned back to Michael saddened she’d have to probably turn him down for dinner as well. The case wasn’t going anywhere so she’d have to spend the whole night going over evidence from the car. “You know what… How about you tag along with us, it’ll be like Lucifer never left.”

“You’re allowing me to go on a run with you?” He wasn’t expecting that. “Is that something I can actually do?” 

“We can ask Chloe, it’s not like people know you’re Michael. I’ve seen you parade around here pretending to be Lucifer...”

She had him there. He had used his brother’s name to get out of a jam here and there. No one actually knew he was not his brother. He led the way out of the lab so they could get approval from Chloe.

The two walked out of her lab and over to Chloe who was waiting for Ella to say her goodbyes to Michael. Chloe tossed Michael’s jacket over to him, much like he did when he left to see Ella. The blue jacket smacked right into Michael’s face causing Chloe to smile. 

“Ready to go Ella?”

“Yeah… but before we go… would it be too much if Michael accompanied us?” Ella asked. Michael finished putting his jacket back on and moved over to Chloe’s side to wrap his arm over her shoulder. 

“I believe I can bring some insight. I’m more useful and attentive than my brother.”

Chloe couldn’t believe he was even asking, but he was right. He could prove to be useful in this case. She sighed. 

“You have to ask Dan, I’m not the leading Detective on this case…” 

Michael dropped his arms and rushed over to the man. Dan was talking to a few uniformed officers off to the side of his desk. He immediately wrapped his arm around over the detective’s shoulder, like he did with Chloe, and gave him a big smile. 

“Yes Michael?” Dan asked with a laugh. 

“Daniel, you know how much I appreciate you, right?” 

“What do you want Michael?” he pushed the angel off of him so they could stand face to face. 

“To tag along…”

“Whatever for?”

Michael looked over to Chloe and Ella, Dan instantly understood. 

“She’s working Michael…”

“No, I know. Hear me out,” he motioned for the women to come over. “I can assist you with this case, better than my brother would in fact. I’m willing to give you who you really want, in return for a ride along.”

The women walked over to the group waiting to hear Dan’s orders. 

“We’ll meet you at the car, Dan and I have to talk,” Michael clarified. Chloe pulled Ella along, both walked up the stairs leaving Michael and Dan alone. 

“What do you mean, you’ll give me who I really want?” Dan crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Griff Kelly may not be your killer…”

“Who do you think is the killer?”

“Hank Abbott.”

“What makes you think he’s who we’re looking for?”

“Charles named him as the man who was tracking him…” Dan dropped his arms ready to yell at Michael for withholding information. “Easy Danny boy, I already have Mazikeen on the job. I’m doing this by the books, don’t worry.”

“Then why were you keeping this from Chloe and I?”

“I have Maze looking for something for me. I wanted to make sure she had time to find it before she handed Hank over to the police.”

“What is it you want that you think Hank might have?”

Michael groaned. It was none of Dan’s business. “The Favor… now please, I’ve given you more than enough information. More than I’ve given Chloe. May I please tag along, so I can have my lunch date with Ella?”

“You gave up all that information for a lunch date with Ella? Didn’t Chloe yell at your ass?”

“Yes… and your point is?” 

Dan shook his head, he knew Michael liked pissing Chloe off, but this was going to send her into a fit of rage. He let out a chuckle and slapped his hand on Michael’s back. Wrong side, Michael winced as the man slapped his injured side. 

“Shit sorry man.”

“That’s fine… so can I tag along?”

“Only if I get to ride in your car, you did bring it right?” Michael smiled. He pulled out his keys to show Dan he brought it. “I can’t believe you own a ‘68 fastback. Can I drive it?”

“One thing at a time Daniel. You may ride in it, but I’ll drive.”

Dan was fine with that, he motioned for the two to take off. Michael followed Dan up the stairs and over to the elevator. 

____________________________

When Ella and Chloe got to the crime scene, they found a 2005 white Honda Civic, owned by a Mr. Griff Kelly, outside the La Brea tar pits smashed into a palm tree. They pulled up on the passenger side and came to a full stop. Ella immediately jumped out of the car and got to work looking over the scene. 

“Aye caramba! This guy totally lost control of the wheel.”

“I’ll check in with the officers who called it in and see if they can give us a rundown on what happened.”

“I’ll start taking pictures and analyzing the scene.” Ella wasted no time pulling her camera out. Blood ran along the driver side of the car, both inside and out. No doubt Mr. Kelly’s blood. 

A pair of officers walked over to Chloe immediately, one eagerly smiling at Chloe as the other pulled him to chill out. Chloe smiled as she remembered the times when she was new to the job. The eager cop was probably new to the scene. 

“Are you Detective Espinoza?” a rooke asked. Chloe shook her head. 

“I’m Detective Chloe Decker, I’m assisting on the case.” Before she could ask anything about the scene, the rooke jumped forward with his hand extended. 

“Officer Brian, I’m a big fan of your Detective. Impeccable close rate, phenomenal work out in the field... It is an honor to have you here.” 

Chloe shook the officer’s hand, she let a smile spread over her face. She’d never had another officer get so excited to work with her. 

“Oh! Why thank you Brian. How long have you been on the force?”

He pulled his hand away embarrassed, he straightened his spine and plastered a professional front on his face. Chloe smiled at his partner, the poor woman was shaking her head. 

“He’s a month in,” the woman said, “he's still learning as you can tell. I’m sorry Detective.”

“No no that’s okay, it’s nice to get recognized for my work as a Detective.” 

Before Officer Brian could mention anything about his obsession with hot tub high school, Officer Hicks spoke up, “will Detective Espinoza be joining us? I had hoped he’d be here, we spoke over the phone not too long ago.”

“We took separate cars… he should…” Chloe stopped when she heard music off in the distance. “He’s here right now actually.”

The roar of Michael’s car pulled everyone 's attention from the scene. The angel loved to bring attention to his car. And what better way, than to blast ‘80 rock music over his speakers. Michael pulled up right besides Chloe’s car. She could see Michael and Dan pretending to be rockstars in the front. Chloe shook her head.  _ They are too comfortable around each other.  _

Ella dropped what she was doing and embodied the heart eyes emoji as the ‘68 Mustang fastback pulled up besides Chloe’s car. She slowly walked over to the Mustang and watched as Michael and Dan pushed themselves out of the vehicle. 

“Why hello, Miss Lopez,” Michael addressed Ella with a bright smile. 

Ella couldn’t seem to stop staring at Michael’s car, her mouth was dropped down to the ground running her hand over the paint. Michael could see the excitement across her face. 

“No way! This is your car?” she started jumping up and down as the realization of the car in front of her was in deed Michael. He came up behind her and showed her the car keys. She squealed as he dangled the keys in front of her, asking her if she’d like to drive it. 

“Ella! Not now. We have work to do,” Chloe called out. Dan started laughing as Chloe was the only one acting responsible. Ella moved away from Michael and went back to looking over the vehicle smashed into the palm tree. Michael kept to himself and watched Ella work from the side of his car. He didn’t want to get in the way of her job, so he leaned against the car and kept his hands in front of him. He waved over Chloe motioning to her he’d be a good angel. 

“Relax Chlo, it’s not often Michael pulls out the Mustang. You have to admit, it’s a sick ride.”

Chloe just shook her head and turned to Dan, “you know he played you just so he could tag along right?”

Dan shrugged his shoulder, he knew for a fact Michael was the one who lost out on this deal. He turned over to the uniformed officers and began their run through. “Detective Espinoza, what did you gather from the eyewitnesses?”

“Multiple people stated that a woman stepped in front of the car causing the driver to swerve,” officer Brian spoke up. 

“No doubt that’d be Maze,” Chloe said. Dan nodded his head, he’d gotten confirmation from Michael while they were driving to the scene. 

“They uh… they said she ripped the door off? I’m not sure that was the actual case, but the missing door was caused by the confrontation between the driver and mystery woman,” the officer added in. 

“Definitely Maze,” Chloe and Dan said together. 

“You two know who did this?” the senior officer asked. 

“A bounty hunter of ours, she… uses more force than necessary sometimes. Did the eyewitness say anything about her kidnapping the driver?” Chloe asked. 

“Yeah…” officer Higgs looked at the detectives with worry. 

Michael looked over towards the officers to see if the coast was clear, as he saw them in deep conversation, he moved over towards Ella. He made sure to give her some distance, he didn’t want to get in her way. He walked over to the passenger side so he could talk to her easier. 

She looked breathtaking. A woman in her element, just lost in her work. Nothing looked more attractive to Michael, than watching Ella do her job. 

Ella could see him staring at her from the corner of her lens. Once she was finished recording all the blood splatter and glass fragments, she angled her camera up and took a picture of him. He wasn’t expecting her to snap a photo of him. She looked down at what she’d taken. 

“Hey!” Michael let out a chuckle. 

“Hey yourself,” she smiled. “You have an interest in forensic work?” she asked peeking up from her camera. 

“Me?” he pointed to himself, she nodded her head. “More for the work that goes into it. Or to be honest, the woman working the forensic work…” he shot her a smile. Ella hid her blush behind her lens and pretended to take pictures. “I believe it works best when you click on the button.” Ella blushed harder as Michael caught her. 

“I’m focusing…” she replied, Michael nodded his head. 

“Right, right.” He knew she was lying but he played along. “Would you like me to help? I know a thing or two on camera.” He started walking over to the driver side when he heard Chloe’s voice scold him. 

“She is working Michael!” The angel stopped dead in his tracks and went back to his side of the car. 

He could hear the faint whispers of Ella voicing her apology as he backed away. 

  
  



	4. Burnin' For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has it really been a week since I've posted? I'm sorry!

Stubborn to get closer to Ella, Michael waited until Chloe turned around to continue his little conversation with Ella once more. He softly whistled in her direction. As she looked up, she shot him a shy smile. 

“I’m working, Michael,” she voiced. Michael shrugged his shoulders because he knew she was already done taking photos. She was just pretending to be close to him. 

“And I know that…”

Ella shook her head turning away from him. She could not stop smiling. 

“Alright, that’s fair,” he chuckled. 

“You really like pushing Chlo’s buttons don’t you?” She said with amusement.

“Oh most definitely, she’s like a female version of Amenadiel… Strict and always trying to kill my fun.”

Ella let out a laugh as he uttered his words. The sound of her laughter brought a smile to his face. That was the first time he made her laugh. He could feel the butterflies returning. She turned around and shot him another smile. Michael was smitten. A light blush spread across his cheeks. 

Determined to keep his composure, he looked down at his feet and corrected his footing. The stupid smile on his face wouldn’t subside. He tried thinking of something else to bring the edges of his mouth together, but it didn’t work. He chanced looking up to find Ella shaking her head at him in amusement. 

“You’re something else, you know that?”

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?” Michael asked. He looked up and watched her place evidence in a bag. She kept her eyes on the scene. She was silent for what seemed like a lifetime. The only response he got out of her was another smile from the edge of her camera. 

Michael let the question go. He understood by the way she smiled in his direction that it was a good thing. He shook his head and looked off into the distance. _Miss Lopez there's just something about you I can’t quite pinpoint…_

The butterflies were working overtime on him. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him. His sunglasses provided a perfect cover. She was none the wiser to his actions. 

“You know you can sit in your car, right? You don’t have to watch me work.” Michael opened his eyes and found Ella looking over the top of the car. He let out a nervous chuckle. _I wasn’t… does she think I was watching? How does she know if she’s supposed to be working?_

Michael smiled, “it’s really no problem... That is unless my observation is distracting you?”

“No!” She blurted out. She shook her head and corrected her volume. “No, you’re totally fine. I just don’t want to take the mystery away, that is me.” 

Michael’s smile widened. He wasn’t even sure her statement was even possible. He looked over in Chloe direction to see if she was distracted. He saw her talking to a couple of uniformed officers. The coast was clear. He pushed himself off his car. 

Ella being the more reasonable adult at least tried to make it look like she was working. She moved her work over to the passenger side of the car and started taking samples. Michael moved himself over to the front of the palm tree and leaned against it. The two were a reasonable distance away. 

“I like your flower,” he said out of nowhere. He motioned to the flower tucked behind her ear held back by a bobby pin. He was happy to see she was still wearing it. 

“Thanks, this really cute guy gave it to me not too long ago.” She looked up from her work and shot him a smug smile. 

Michael couldn’t help but point to himself to seek confirmation that it was from him. She shook her head in amusement when he did that. He hummed, “cute guy you say? You wouldn’t happen to have plans with this cute guy later, would you?” 

“As a matter a fact, I do.” She packed up her samples and turned to Michael. “So I’d watch out…” Michael inched over to hear her explanation. 

“Why’s that?” he whispered. Like two magnets, the pair gravitated to one another. 

“He’s quite the charmer. Strong,” she looked at his arms. Michael followed her eyesight. “Tall…”

“Is that so, what else?” He took another step closer to her. 

“Said to…”

A loud draw of a whistle echoed out into the area. The two immediately broke eye contact and took a step back. Ella looked over in Chloe’s direction and found Chloe with her hands on her hips annoyed. Dan was standing besides Chloe equally annoyed and confused. 

“Sorry! So sorry,” she took another step away from Micahel. She needed to focus. “I’m working I promise. I’m Ms. Professional, starting now,” she called out. She whispered a sorry over to Michael before leaving his side. 

Michael shook his head, it was his fault not hers. He voiced an apology as well and slowly backed away from the palm tree and over to his car. He had promised to stick to the sides and not distract anyone. He leaned up against his car and got back in formation. This time keeping his eyes off of Ella as she worked. 

_______________________

  
  


Chloe shook her head as she returned to the conversation at hand. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of Michael for one second, it was like having another child. 

“I called to see if Maze brought our killer in, but the precinct said they hadn’t seen her. It’s been what… like forty-five minutes? With this traffic…” Dan took a minute to go over the timing. “Sounds about right.”

“Highly doubt she’s stuck in traffic. No doubt she’s milking information out for Michael…” she looked over in the angel’s direction and shot him a glare. Michael was looking up at the sky for no other reason but to soak up the sun from above. 

Dan kept his conversation with Michael to himself, he didn’t need Chloe going all crazy on him right now. At least not in front of other officers. For the meantime, he’d keep Michael’s lead quiet. 

“Who’s Michael?” Officer Higgs asked. Chloe and Daniel looked back over to the other officers. They didn’t feel the need to share that information, so they brushed it off. 

“No one. Thank you officer…” Dan looked down at the woman’s name and smiled, “Higgs and officer Brian. We got it covered from here. If you’d be so kind as to make sure no one disrupts the car until the tow truck arrives, I’d greatly appreciate it.” 

Both officers nodded their heads and left the detectives alone. Chloe looked over in Michael's direction once more and then back to Dan. 

“Did you get anything out of him?” she asked. 

“A few things…” Chloe looked over at Dan shocked. She couldn’t believe Michael would be more willing to tell Dan things and not her. Dan let out a chuckle and pulled her off away so they could be alone.

“What did you do that?”

“I didn’t have to do anything,” he said, calming his laughter down. “The guy is obsessed with Ella right now, he practically handed me the whole case just to get close to her.”

“What did he tell you?” she crossed her arms over her chest and looked in Michael’s direction. The angel waved over to Chloe much like a kid did to annoy his mother. 

“You were right, Maze is milking information out of our killer.”

“I knew it...” 

“Easy… she’s bringing him in.”

“Why are you so calm about this? We can’t let Michael…”

“I’m keeping tabs on him Chlo. I practically put him on house arrest… there’s nothing else I can do. He informed me that whatever he wants from our killer is just to see if he knows the location of whatever Mr. Harvey was going to exchange for Lucifer’s favor. He lies more to you than me.”

“But why me?” she said with frustration. “I’m closer to him than you.” Dan tried not to take it as an insult, he knew Chloe and Michael were closer. He shrugged his shoulders when she wanted an answer. 

“I think it hurts you more, because Lucifer doesn’t like to lie…” he said. Chloe looked away from Michael. 

“That’s not…” she stopped mid-sentence and looked over to Ella. The woman was walking over with a wallet in her hand. “What do you have Ella?” Chloe asked. 

“I found a wallet that belongs to a Mr. Hank Abbott.. but I thought our possible killer was named Griff?”

“It's supposed to be…” Chloe put a glove over her hand so she could look over the contents inside. Dan stood close and looked over the license with Chloe. Right there, the man’s name was Hank Abbott, but the face was of Griff Kelly. She handed the wallet back over to Ella and waved Michael over right after whispering _“I’m going to kill him,”_ under her breath. Dan motioned for Ella to stand besides him. 

“You sure you still want to go on a date with Michael? Not sure if he’ll still be alive when Chlo is done with him,” Dan whispered. Ella looked over to Michael, scared for him. 

Michael walked over with a hop in his step. He was excited to be in close proximity with Ella once more. Before he could stand besides her, Chloe grabbed his arm and pulled him close to herself. The grip of her hand forced her nails to dig into his jacket. He was oblivious to the scolding he was about to receive. 

“Yes Detective? I’ve been following orders. I haven’t disrupted Miss Lopez, I’ve stayed by my car as you are aware.” Lies, nothing but lies. Dan and Ella couldn’t help but shake their heads as Michael tried to back himself out of a corner. 

Chloe motioned for Ella to show Michael the wallet she’d found. The first thing he came in contact with was the man’s license. It belonged to a Mr. Hank Abbott. 

“Want to tell me why our killer has a different name than the one you gave me?” 

“I…” Michael swung his head over to Chloe confused. “In all honestly… I didn’t give you a name.” 

That was a wrong thing to say. 

“But you knew Griff Kelly wasn’t the name we were looking for? So this whole time you knew that the killer’s name was Hank Abbott.” She had her mom and Detective voice on. This was serious. Michael dropped his act and cooperated with the detectives. 

“I…” he wasn’t sure what to say. He looked down at Ella when she pulled the wallet away. She was waiting to hear what he had to say. Chloe looked up at him waiting for his answer. He left back up into a corner. He didn’t want to talk about this in front of Ella. “I…” he cleared his throat to compose himself. “Charles gave me the name of a man stalking him while we were _talking._ ” They were smart enough to deduce that talking meant torturing. “He voiced he couldn’t fulfill his favor without this guy off his back.” He pointed to the wallet. “So, I had Mazikeen go after him… He managed to slip away from her. My guess, he heard Charles was meeting with me and took his opening when Mazikeen was disposed… I didn’t know until she informed me up in the penthouse. Once I knew, I sent her after Hank.” He motioned towards the wrecked car. “Seems she wasn’t happy with their last interactment.”

“Why were you keeping this all from us?” Ella asked. She was more curious than upset. 

“I wasn’t Miss Lopez… I admit some of the details were kept from the Detectives, but I did try correcting the situation well before it got out of hand. Hank Abbott has proved to be a tricky catch, hence why I sent Mazikeen after him. Detective Decker and Espinoza mean a great deal to me, I don’t wish for them to get hurt.”

Chloe appreciated the sentiment but it still didn’t make up for the fact he was keeping information from the case. Dan didn’t seem to have a problem, afterall Michael had told him all the information before they left the precinct. Ella understood where Michael was coming from, she just wished he hadn’t gotten in the middle.

“Maze hasn’t brought Hank Abbott back to the precinct yet, can I expect him to be delivered in one piece?” Chloe asked. 

Michael shrugged his shoulders, “I’m not Mazikeen’s keeper Chloe… she’s a big girl. She knows to work within the system. I’m sure once she’s ready, she’ll bring him in.”

Before things could turn into a verbal fight, Dan stepped in. After all, this was his case. 

“Maze has had enough time to extract your information from Abbott. Call her in now, Michael. I expect him back at the precinct before noon.” 

Michael looked at the watch on his wrist, he had forty minutes. He clenched his jaw while the time started tickling. That wasn’t enough time to get anything out of Hank. Michael clenched his fist to prevent himself from saying anything he’d regret. He hated being ordered around by humans. In the end, Michael nodded his head and walked over to his car to talk to Maze in private. 

“He’s acting like Lucifer and I can’t take it,” Chloe said. 

“Maybe this case has more meaning to him than we know… personal reasoning.” Ella pointed out. Both Detectives looked over at her. She shrugged her shoulders, “maybe Michael has a tie to the favor Mr. Harvey promised Lucifer. You have to admit, if Lucifer didn’t go after Mr. Harvey for the favor, what makes this one so important to Michael?” 

There was truth behind Ella’s words. Chloe shook her head and left the two behind to go talk to Michael. Dan moved over to Ella and nudged her shoulder with his. 

“Thanks for pointing that out to her. He told me what was so important about the favor, but it’s not my place to say. Did he mention it to you?” he looked at her surprised. She shook her head. 

“No… but I can see he’s playing both angles to help. He’s not a bad guy.”

“He’s not…”

“I can see that,” she said looking over at Michael. “Something tells me I’m not getting my date…” 

Dan turned to Ella and saw the frown on her face. 

“Michael is pretty taken by you. I’m sure he’ll work something out.” 

_______________________

  
  


“The detectives want Hank brought back to the precinct…” he pulled the phone away from his ear. “No this is your fault. Not mine.” He rolled his eyes and listened to Maze yell at him over the phone. “It doesn’t matter anymore, bring him in before Chloe rings my balls out… yeah yeah yeah. You’ll get your money.” Michael hung up his phone and let out a frustrated growl. Chloe treeded closely as she caught the end of his little break down. “What do you want?” he said out of spite. 

“I… I was just making sure you called Maze. What did she say?” 

“Other than a mess of curse words both in Lilium and English… nothing. She’ll bring him in within the hour.” He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and walked past Chloe. 

“Michael,” she called out. When he didn’t stop she pulled his arm back to stop him. “I’m sorry, but he might have killed a man…” 

“He admitted to killing Charles. So there you go Detective…” he pulled his arm out of her grasp. “Now, I’d like to leave. I just need to say goodbye to Miss Lopez.” He walked off. 

Michael caught Ella putting away her forensic bags when he walked over towards her. He made sure to announce his presence so he didn’t scare her. He knew how quiet he could be sometimes. Ella looked up with a smile. 

“I was wondering if we could talk in private, Miss Lopez?” He motioned over to her bags. It was a joke which she appreciated. She nodded her and followed Michael away from her work. “I uh…” he was nervous, he was starting to ring out his fingers. “I’m sorry for keeping information about the case from you. Please know I was not using you in any form other than to get to know you. I know this looks…”

Ella stopped his rambling, “I wasn’t for one second thinking you were using me. I invited you here, remember?” She touched his arm to get him to settle his nerves. “You’re fine.”

“Oh,” he let out a nervous chuckle, “well. I uh… I believe our lunch date is going to have to wait once more…” They both frown. 

“That’s alright... Your persistence hasn’t stopped, has it?” he shook his head. “Then I’m not sad anymore. We can reschedule for tomorrow? Or..” She made fast work to correct it. She didn’t want to seem eager about the date, so she picked her frown upside down and tried to play it cool. “Or another day… we could totally reschedule and plan it another time…”

Michael let a smile spread across his face. This woman was already planning their next encounter. He loved that. 

“How about we reschedule our date for tomorrow… but make it a fun date. Lux reopens tomorrow. Could be a nice evening…”

“You trying to liquor me up, Michael?” She shot him a look that showed she was teasing him. 

He let out a nervous chuckle, “of course not. Just thought you’d enjoy some dancing.”

“I love to dance, but don’t think I won’t say no to a few drinks.” Her finger pressed against his chest. Michael smiled down at the two’s shared connection. 

“It’s a date then,” he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. He placed a kiss on the top. “I should probably be letting you get back to your day job. It was nice getting to spend the morning with you Miss Lopez.” He surrendered her hand back to her and backed away. 

Before Michael could leave, she placed her hand on his arm. “Ella... Call me Ella from now on Michael.” She shot him a smile. 

“Ella…” he let it roll off his tongue. “I look forward to our date Miss… I mean Ella.” He shot her a smile and walked away.

When he turned away, Ella let a gust of wind leave her mouth. She wasn’t sure when she even inhaled. That quick second he took to give her hand a kiss sent butterflies in her stomach. She could vaguely feel the press on his lips still on her skin. She brought it up to her chest and thought of him. 

Dan walked up to her and nudged her back to life. “You okay there?” he said, laughing. 

She pushed him away because she knew he could see the blush on her face. 

“Curioso!” she exclaimed. 

“What? I’m just checking in. What did he say?”

“Nothing and everything good. He canceled our date… but we’re meeting up at Lux tomorrow. I need to find something nice to wear!” She moved over to her bags and picked them up off the floor. 

_______________________

  
  


Chloe was propped up against Michael’s car when he returned from talking to Ella. He rolled his eyes as she blocked his way into his vehicle. He stood before her with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Can I help you Detective?” 

“I know you’re upset about not getting to question Hank Abbott…”

“Understatement…”

“What I’m saying is that…” she sighed. “Come down to the precinct and I’ll let you question him. I’ll ask Dan to give you privileges, not like anyone knows you’re not Lucifer down at the precinct. I’ll let you interrogate him.”

Michael dropped his arms, surprised Chloe would allow him to interrogate anyone. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I know this is important to you…”

“It is… what do you want out of it?” He was sceptical about the offer. 

“Nothing… but if you can get more out of him about why he killed Charles Harvey it’d appreciate it.”

“You’d let me beat up this man in a police station?” 

Chloe’s eyes nearly bugged out, “God no! Don’t you have easier ways to extract information out of people.” She leaned in and whispered, “like Lucifer’s Devil mojo.”

Michael let out a hearty laugh, “Devil mojo? You want me to sleep with Hank Abbott?” 

“No! You know,” she pointed to her eyes, “his crazy desire thing he does.”

“Oh… Desire is more my brother schtick.”

“Don’t you have a superpower?” 

“It’s not a superpowers, it’s a gift... “

“What’s your then? You and Lucifer are twins, shouldn’t you have something similar?”

Michael sighed, “yes. I may not have the ability to draw forth people’s desires, but I do have the ability to draw out people’s fear… I don’t like using it though.”

“Well you can’t go beating people up in the interrogation room, so you have to figure something out…”

Michael nodded his head, “fine. I’ll think of something,” he looked over towards Ella and Dan. “I just told her we had to reschedule our lunch date…”

“Then pick something up and bring it over to the station, the two of you could still have your date.”

“Maybe…” he titled his head off to the side. “How about I bring food for the four of us so it doesn’t look like I’m clingy. I’ll interrogate Hank while you guys are eating.”

“Sounds good to me.” Free lunch, she was not going to turn that down. “I’ll meet you at the precinct?”

“Yeah, any preferences on lunch?” he asked. 

“Nope, surprise us.” 

_______________________

  
  


Michael walked into the precinct with two full bags of food. Some of the food was for the officers in the bullpen, he got extra for the hell of it. He found Ella in her office going over samples. He knocked on the door frame to announce his presence. 

“I’ll be there in a second, just need to get these samples into the system,” she replied, not looking up from her microscope. Michael let out a cough to draw her attention from her work. 

“I’m sorry if I caught you at a wrong time Mis… Ella. I just popped by to give you some lunch.” He showed his big bag of food. As soon as she heard Michael's voice, her head shot up from his microscope and smiled at him. She motioned for him to enter immediately. 

“No no! Come in, I’m sorry…” he placed the bag on the table away from any paperwork. “Wait… you got me lunch?” he nodded his head and started to pull the contents out. “Michael… you didn’t have to. I thought we agreed…”

“And we have, this is just a bonus. I got chinese… I hope that’s alright.”

“I… yes chinese is perfect,” she shook her head at the amount of food he ordered. “I hope we’re sharing, this is a lot of food even for me.”

Michael let out a chuckle, “we are. Along with Chloe and Dan, I hope that’s okay?”

“Aw a little group hang out, I love it.”

Dan came bouncing into the room looking at the food Michael brought it. He drug in right away making himself a plate. Chloe followed soon after. She pulled Michael off to the side. 

“Hank is in the interrogation room if you’d like to have your talk with him while we eat. It’d give you enough time with no one observing you.”

Michael looked behind them and over to Ella, she was slapping Dan’s hand away from the food and serving him herself. 

“I think I’ll let him wait it out,” he looked at the watch around his wrist. “It’s lunch time. He’s already ruined my morning for the day, let's leave him with his thoughts a little while longer.”

Chloe nodded her head to that. There was no rush, Maze had gotten a confession out of the man. She was only doing this for Michael. He pulled her over to the table so they could eat. Ella had already prepared a plate for everyone. When the two came over to join Ella and Dan, Ella made sure to motion Michael over to her side. 

The four of them took their time eating and talking amongst one another. It was nice to have two buffers that knew Michael and Ella to a degree. They got helpful insight on the other without having to talk about themselves for minutes on end. 

About an hour had passed before Michael caught himself looking at his watch. He didn’t want to leave but he also didn’t want to give Hank enough time to recover from Maze’s little torture session. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked over at Chloe. She knew what he wanted right away. 

“I’m sorry to cut our lunch short, but I believe I’ve kept Mr. Abbott waiting long enough…”

“Do you need any help?” Dan asked.

“No, I believe I have it covered.”

“No funny business alright? The Lieutenant is in his office, we don’t need you drawing attention to yourself.”

Michael threw his hands in the air, “I’m not an idiot Daniel. I know how to behave…” he turned over to Ella and shot her a smile. “Until tomorrow.”

He left the room with Chloe and headed over to the interrogation room. Chloe walked him over into the private room where they could see the man first. There was a one way mirror so the party in this room could observe the party in the interrogation room. Michael walked up to the window and looked over Hank Abbotts face. The man had a busted nose along with a black eye. There was blood covering his whole face, of course it was dry now. Michael’s fists tightened as he looked over the man. 

“Can I trust you not to attack this man?” Chloe asked from the side. 

“Yes. You have my word… Do you want me to use my gift on him?” he asked as if she was the keeper of them. 

“If it can get us more information out of him, then yes. But it is up to you. I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to do…”

He turned his back to the window and left the room, no other words exchanged between the two. Chloe had mentioned she’d give him some privacy, but something told her to stick around and keep an eye on him. Seconds later, Michael opened the door and shed his jacket off of his shoulders. He threw it over the back of a chair as he came to stand before Hank. The man had his head down when Michael came to sit down. 

Chloe watched as Michael stared at the man. She looked over to the intercom and turned on the audio so she could hear. 

“Mr. Abbott… if you’d be so kind as to look at me.” The man kept his head down. 

“I know who you are and I’m not complying with your stupid little games…”

Michael leaned back into his chair and smiled at the man. He thought he was his brother. Michael crossed his arms over his chest and just stared at the man. When the silence was too much, Hank looked up to see Michael smiling at him. He quickly looked back down to avoid his gaze. 

“I’m not Lucifer… no no, I’m much worse than the Devil. You see my brother has boundaries when it comes to the law now. Thanks to his new partner, she’s really whipped him into shape. No you Hank, you get me.”

“If you’re not Lucifer, then who are you?” he shifted his eyes up and down trying to get a look at Michael. 

“His other half…” Michael dropped his arms and leaned forward into his seat. Hank lifted his eyes from the table and looked up at Michael. The room went dark and filled with a scream. A bloodcurdling scream cried out. Chloe’s heart dropped. She ran out of the room and over to the interrogation room. She swung the door open and found Hank under the table shaking with Michael in his seat on his phone. 

Chloe looked over into the bullpen and found no one coming their way. She was confused. She could have sworn she heard screaming. She looked over to Michael confused. He looked up and smiled at her. 

“I’m wrapped up here. I texted everything I got out of him to Daniel… you’re welcome.”

“I… I…” she felt like she was missing time. So much seemed to happen in such a short amount of time. “What the hell just happened? I saw you lean forward and the lights went out. What happened?”

“I scared him. Now he’s on the floor crying like an infant.” He lifted himself up off the chair and collected his jacket. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some business with my brother.” He made his way over to the door. 

“Amenadiel? What does Amenadiel…”

“Not Amenadiel… Lucifer.” Chloe stopped Michael right away and looked at him shocked. 

“What?” She thought she heard him wrong. 

“No… I know what you’re going to ask and no.”

“I… I wasn’t…”

“I know you. I know you want to see him and I said no. Now if you’ll excuse me…” she stopped him again. This time by her desk. “Chloe.”

“How… How are you going to talk to him? Are you going to Hell? Is he coming to you? Do the two of you do this often? I…” 

“Calm down before you short a circuit,” he gave her a second to collect herself. “Now, I have to go…” 

“Michael…” it was her turn to give the puppy dog eyes. He stared down at her for a minute trying to not fold. 

In the end she won. 

“Notify Daniel you’ll be leaving with me. Hurry.” 

Chloe pulled out her phone and shot Dan a quick text. When she was ready she put it in her back pocket and looked up at Michael. 

“You good?” He asked. She nodded her head. “Do you need your car?” She shook her head. She couldn’t form words, her heart was practically trying to jump out of her mouth. He offered his elbow. “You’re going to want to hold onto it…”

Chloe immediately latched onto his arm. He smiled down at her as they took off in a blink of the eye.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Curioso = nosy ... at least that's what google translate told me ha.


	5. You Shook Me All Night Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Deckerstar moment kinda got away from me and sprouted into a full out chapter... sorry.

The flight was over before Chloe could even register what had just happened. Her eyes were glued shut when Michael set them down. She could hear the low chuckle of his laugh echo out. 

“You can open your eyes. I’m fairly sure you know we’ve grounded.” Michael walked away from her and left her standing in the middle of the living room. She could hear the sound of his shoes echo off the floor. Chloe opened her eyes to find them in Lucifer’s penthouse. She was confused. 

“I thought…”

“You really thought I’d take you to Hell?” His laughter grew. “I fear nothing more than the rage of my brother when he finds out I brought you to the one place he hates the most.”

“Then… how?” She couldn’t seem to form words. Michael walked over to the bar and grabbed a few glasses from the shelf. 

“I’m going to call him of course. Have a seat, is whiskey alright?” He was already pouring them glasses. Chloe walked over to the couch and had herself a seat. “It is whiskey he likes right?”

“Yeah…” 

Michael set the bottle back on the rack and carefully brought the glasses over to the glass table by the couch. With grace Michael put the drinks on the table and offered one over to Chloe. She respectfully declined. He made a face and brought hers up to his lips. 

“How are you going to call him? I’m pretty sure there’s no cell signal in Hell…”

He smiled into his drink before answering her. She was looking at him like he held all the answers in the world. 

“As much as he hates being called upon, you can pray to him.”

“I can pray to Lucifer?” 

He smiled because he knew how much his brother hated the word. 

“Yes! But I wouldn’t expect him to answer, it’s more of a one way line.”

“So… how are you doing to talk to him?”

“Well I’m going to summon him.”

“Like a ritual or something?” she looked scared. Michael laughed again. 

“Heavens no! Where are you getting your information from?”

“Shut up… can you just call him.”

“Bossy…” he set his glass down and closed his eyes. Chloe watched Michael closely. He was still like a statue. The only indication he was alive was the movement of his breathing. She watched him for what felt like minutes. When he was done he opened his eyes he grabbed his glass of whiskey and sat besides Chloe on the couch. 

“Did it work?” she asked softly.

“I hope it did.” He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. 

The place was quiet as they waited. Chloe was nervous. She kept fidgeting with her hands. Her eyes were locked onto the elevator. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he couldn’t just fly onto the balcony. About ten minutes passed before she turned over to the balcony. Michael was sitting still looking down at his drink. He looked worried. 

“Why do you need to get in contact with Lucifer? I never asked.” Michael swirled his drink in his hand. When he didn’t answer she pulled her eyes from the balcony and focused on him. “Michael?”

“Hmm?” he looked up. 

“Why do you need to meet with Lucifer?” She had been so wrapped up in the possibility of seeing Lucifer that she never stopped to question why Michael was requesting an audience with him.

“Personal reasons…” was all he said. She didn’t accept that response. She turned in her seat and sat criss cross applesauce. 

“The favor?” she asked. Michael responded back with a head nod. “What was so important about the favor anyways, did Abbott tell you what you wanted to know?”

“He didn’t know it’s location… I sent a message to my brother to get it out of Charles himself. Hence why it’s probably taking forever!” he yelled out into the open. Michael lifted the glass of whiskey up to his lips and took another sip. 

“What was the favor? If you don’t mind me asking…” 

“A stone… it’s supposed to help...” he brought the glass down to his lap. His fingers ran over the ribbings of the glass work. The words were stuck in his throat. 

“Supposed to help what?” Chloe placed her hand on his, she could see it was a sensitive topic for Michael. She let him take his time. When Michael was ready he took a deep breath and exhaled. 

“It’s supposed to help find celestial beings…” 

“Like other angels? Why would that be important?”

“Every angel is accounted for in Heaven... I guess I’m talking about nephilims or demons…”

“Nephilims? Like children?” 

Chloe wasn’t sure where this conversation was going. Her mind was already working on different scenarios. Her brain immediately went to Lucifer. She knew he had slept with a ton of people. It was bound to happen. 

She wasn’t even sure why she was surprised to hear that Lucifer struck a deal to receive such an object. With Amenadiel fathering his own son, she was sure Lucifer would want to know if he had children or not. Curious to know she asked Michael, “does Lucifer have children?” 

Michael looked up from his lap and raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn’t sure if she was scared or generally asking an honest question. _Would that be a deal breaker if his brother had a child?_ He asked himself. _Did women not like it when men had children?_

“Would it bother you if he did?” he asked. The question caught her off guard. She had expected Michael to answer her right away, not ask for her option. Her mouth kept opening and closing. She wasn’t entirely sure on how to answer Michael. He shook his head when he realized he’d scared her. “You may relax, you’re not a step-mom.” 

A wave of relief washed over Chloe. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t accept the idea; it was just reassuring to know a child of Lucifer’s wasn’t walking around without a father. The child could be Trixie’s age, her age, maybe even older. If he had a son, what would happen if she ever slept with or dated him. She shook the idea out of her head. Michael had just reassured her Lucifer didn’t have children.

“Why do you want to stone then?” She asked. She looked over to Michael and found him staring down the bottom of his glass. 

Michael wasn’t ready to answer her question, so he brought his glass up to his lips once more. A huge gust of wind flooded the room. Chloe immediately looked over to see what could have caused the sweep of wind. When she saw him on the balcony, she jumped from the couch. 

“De… Chloe?” Lucifer called out. He was rooted in his spot on the balcony. 

“You came.” 

“Of course I… Michael called me…” His focus was lost. The smile on Chloe’s face was too bright. He could see the tears forming in her eyes. She rushed over to him, but stopped two feet in front of him not entirely sure if she should hug him. 

“What are you…” he let a smile spread across his face, “what are you doing here? I… I’m not complaining… I’m just shocked to see you here.” His hand reached out for her before his legs could cross the distance. When he found his footing he walked up to her and cupped her cheek. “Your hair, it’s… it’s beautiful.” His fingers brushed against the new bangs she’d given herself.

“I thought I could change it up a bit… do you like it?” 

“I love it.” He couldn’t keep his eyes from running all over her face. It’d been so long since he’d seen her. Chloe’s hands ran up his chest. It sent goosebumps all over his body. 

Michael rolled his eyes and set his glass on the table in front of him. He let out a sigh and pushed himself off the leather couch. This wasn’t supposed to be a reunion, it was supposed to be a conference call. A discussion on the whereabouts of a special stone he’d been trying his best to find. He hated to do this to his brother and Chole, but he needed answers. 

Michael cleared his throat to announce that he was still in the room with them. Chloe rolled her eyes. Karma was biting her right in the ass. 

“Sorry to break this happy little reunion up, but…” Michael looked at his brother. He wanted to know the location of the stone. Lucifer dropped his hand and took to locking his fingers with Chloe’s instead. His eyes never leave Chloe’s. “The stone’s location, brother.” 

Chloe broke eye contact with Lucifer and faced Michael. It forced Lucifer to finally address his brother. He shook his head and delivered the information he’d gathered. 

“Charles explained to me he never knew it’s true location after he sold it a few years back…”

“What!” Michael yelled. 

“I asked who he sold it to…” Lucifer let out a chuckle, “you’ll never guess who had it in their possession.”

“Who?” Michael was gritting his teeth. 

“Mum…”

“Mom had it?” Michael threw his hands in the air. “Of course the bitch had the one thing that’ll help me find my…” Michael stopped himself before saying any more. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. “Fine, it’s fine. I’ll just go look through all of the late Charlotte Richards’ belongings…” He took a step back and started thinking of possible locations his mother would hide such an object.

“Brother… Amenadiel and I went over every inch of Mum’s belongings when she left. The stone wasn’t there. If mum knew anything about your...”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. Don’t!” Michael snapped. Michael was spirling. He grabbed a glass of whiskey from the table and walked over to the piano. He shot the drink back in one go before placing his palms on the top of the piano. He needed something to prevent him from falling to his knees. “Mom couldn’t have known…” he told himself. He looked over to his brother, “you weren’t even looking for it, maybe she hid it…”

“Mum purchased the stone Michael… you need to open your mind to the possibility that…”

He didn’t appreciate that reply. He threw his glass into the wall before his brother could finish that sentence. Chloe jumped from Michael’s outburst. Lucifer wrapped his arms around her. His embrace was welcomed. Before he could do anymore damage, Michael unfurled his wings. Chloe had never seen Michael’s wings before. She starred in awe. When her eyes raked over to his right wing and frowned, it looked to be broken. 

“I’ll be in Hell if you need me…” He took off without saying another word. Lucifer shook his head and looked at the broken glass all over the floor.

He knew he should follow after his brother but he didn’t have the drive to talk sense into him. Michael was in pain right now, he needed to blow off steam. If he wanted to take his anger out on Hell, he was more than welcome. The place could use some redecorating. 

Chloe walked out of Lucifer’s embrace and over to the broken glass on the floor. She began sweeping up the broken bits with her shoe. Lucifer took off and grabbed a broom. When he came back, Chloe took the broom from his hands and began sweeping up the mess. 

“He’s been emotional hasn’t he?” Lucifer asked from the side. Chloe shrugged her shoulders as she swept the glass into a pile. 

“He’s been pretty secretive but not emotional…” She placed the broom along the wall and turned to Lucifer. “As much as I’d love to spend time with you… I think you should go after him.”

Lucifer shook his head. He closed the distance between the two of them and brought Chloe in for a hug. Her arms snaked around his back and held him close. He laid his head on her head and enjoyed her embrace. 

“He needs space. I just dropped the biggest news on him and he’s in pain. I… it’s best I give my brother some space, Detective…” 

Chloe pulled away so she could look up at Lucifer. 

“Why did he go to Hell? What’s in Hell?” 

“Someone he wants… he’s going to be looking for Sandalphon.”

“Who’s Sandalphon?” 

“An old friend of my brothers…” It was a terrible joke to make. Lucifer shook his head and withdrew that remark. “He’s responsible for Michael’s hunch…” Chloe raised her eyebrow, she didn’t know what Lucifer was talking about. “Of course, he hides it well… His right wing, I caught you looking.”

“I… I didn't mean to.” Lucifer smiled, he didn’t care. 

“He's looking for the being responsible. He won’t find him there, but it’ll keep him occupied while I’m here I guess.” He brought his hand up to her cheek once more. “Hi,” he said. 

Chloe looked up at Lucifer with a smile. He was finally there with her. His loving brown eyes shined like stars for her. She was lost in his eyes. Everything about Michael was tossed out the window and forgotten. 

“Hi,” she repeated, with a smile. 

“It is a pleasant surprise to see you here. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long…”

“A little… but well worth the look of surprise on your face.”

Lucifer lowered his head, his lips inches from hers. 

“I miss you…” he whispered.

“Not as much as I miss you…” 

He closed the distance and placed his lips on hers. 

_________________________  
  


The day had come and gone. Both Lucifer and Chloe had expected Michael to come back before nightfall but the angel seemed to enjoy his time in Hell. Chloe had repeatedly voiced her concern about Michael, but Lucifer reassured her his brother would be fine. 

Once they had gotten past the concern and worry, they took the time to catch up and fill one another in on the lost time between them. One thing led to the next and they found comfort in each other's embrace. They picked right up where they left off on the balcony all those weeks ago. 

They were currently wrapped in the bed covers enjoying each other's embrace. It must have been early in the afternoon. Neither one of them wanted the time between them to end. Lucifer pulled Chloe close to his body. He buried his head in the nock of her shoulder. The sound of her laughter brought a smile to his face. 

“You’re tickling me,” she laughed out. Her hands lightly pushed his head away so the scruff of his beard would cease it’s tickling. 

“Exactly the point.” He kissed up along her neck, backing off. She hummed in response. “Oh I know that noise,” he kissed up her neck and up to her lips. Her hands slowly ran over his cheek. 

“Lucifer,” she whispered. He pushed the covers up so he could climb on top of her. He had a wicked smile on his face. 

“Round four Deteective?” he said nipping at her ear. 

“Yes.”

Before he could do anything she pushed him off of her and straddled him. His eyes went wide as she took charge. The blanket pooled around her waist. His hands ran up her thighs up and to her hips. 

“You get to be on top this time, but I get the next go. Yeah?” 

She wasn’t listening to him. She grabbed the hair tie around her wrist and instantly went to work tying it up. He loved it better down, but he was too busy watching her to even ask. As her hand came down and ran over his torso, the sound of the elevator doors opening echoed out. 

It was too late. Maze had already seen enough. Chloe slid off of Lucifer and covered herself in the blanket. The demon walked up the steps and into the room. Maze propped herself up against the stone wall. She had the brightest smile on her face as she watched Chloe shy away. 

“I knew the two of you would get around to boning sooner or later. How is she in the sack Michael?” she winked over to Lucifer. The Devil shot her a look. 

“I’m not Michael.”

“Oh shit!” Maze pushed herself off of the stone wall and came to sit on the bed. “You’re back. How was mom?” She brought an apple up to her mouth and took a bite. She looked over at Lucifer like nothing was wrong. Chloe was freaking out. Poor thing slid off the bed and hit her ass hard on the floor. Lucifer scooted over to the edge and tried to help her. 

“Mazikeen get out!” Chloe yelled.

“What? It’s not like I haven’t seen either of you naked before.”

“What!” Chloe squawked. Maze let out a chuckle. “What?” 

“Chill, you needed to change out of your clothes one night. Michael was too shy to do it himself, so I helped. I have to say,” she looked over Chloe’s bare legs, “you have a nice ass.”

“Mazikeen!” Lucifer yelled. 

“Alright alright, I can see I’m not wanted. I just stopped by to get my money from Michael. He wasn’t answering my calls. Where is he?”

“Probably driving your mother mad by now.”

Maze snorted. “Serves her right,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “So he’s in Hell? What is he doing there?”

“Either trying to find Sandalphon or torturing Charles, but since he’s been gone this long… My bet is that he’s looking for Sandalphon.”

“Sandalphon isn’t in Hell though...”

“I know.” Lucifer helped Chloe off the floor and back onto the bed. Chloe went ahead and offered Lucifer part of the blanket to help cover himself up. He didn’t take it, he was fine showing himself. 

“So you let him go so you could hook up with Decker?” She got up from the bed. “Smart. Was it worth it? Because you know he’s going to be pissed off when he doesn’t find him.”

“Wait… He’s not in Hell? You made it sound like he was… if he’s not there, then where is he?” Chloe asked. That didn’t sound right. Michael had been counting the days down until he could leave and find Sandalphon. She could finally recall the name, it was the deal he made with Lucifer.

“He was in Hell, but I had to move him. If Michael knew the exact location of Sandalphon he’d drop everything and find him. He showed a perfectly good example of how he’d respond. I know my brother Detective, he’d do anything to get his hands on the bastard.” Chloe looked over to Maze. The demon nodded her head in confirmation. “Once he finds out he’s not there he’ll come back. No doubt our time is coming to a close…” he reached out and grabbed her hand. 

“What do you plan on telling him?” she asked. 

“That I’m not done in Hell, so our deal isn’t ready for him. Yes, he’ll be mad but he knows Sandalphon isn’t supposed to be his, just yet.”

“What did he do to Michael?” Both Lucifer and Maze looked at one another. Maze had only heard rumors, she didn’t know the complete truth. Only Lucifer knew. 

“I’m not entirely sure what exactly happened but I found my brother chained and broken. He was barely breathing… It wasn’t until I asked him to take over for me, did he show interest. He’ll get Sandalphon once I’m done in Hell.”

“How long will that be?” Maze asked. 

“I wouldn’t say too long… you’re mother is shaping out to be quite the ruler.” Lucifer smiled over to Maze. Chloe leaned up against the headboard and tried to take in the information she’d just received. 

“You’re giving Hell to her?” Maze wasn’t happy. 

“I’m ensuring it, in her care.”

“You’re giving it to my mother!” 

“She’s a mother to all your pesky little monsters. If anyone can control you lot, it’s her!”

“My mother! I can never go home after this.”

“Oh please, like you’d actually leave Linda and everyone behind…” 

He had a point. Maze and him stared at each other until she broke eye contact. 

“Fuck you, Lucifer!” She tossed her apple at his head. He reacted quickly and let it smack against the headboard. Maze turned around and walked down the stairs. Lucifer got up and followed her. 

“Mazikeen…”

“I hope Michael beats the shit out of you once he gets back.” She entered the elevator and watched him as it closed. 

Lucifer stood by the piano as the doors closed. There was no point going after her, she was too upset with him. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. Skin the skin, he could feel her heat on his back. The blanket was visible from the front. A pair of lips pressed against his back. 

“You know you’re going to have to make things up to Michael and Maze, right?” 

“I understand my brother, but why would I apologize to Mazikeen?” He turned in her arms so they could talk face to face. Chloe kept her arms wrapped around them, the blanket giving them cover for any more intruders. 

Chloe wasn’t sure how to respond back to that. She knew it was the right thing to do, but she couldn’t actually give Lucifer a solid reason that he’d accept. He lifted his eyebrow waiting for her answer. 

“She obviously has issues with her mother and Maze is practically your right hand man… demon.” She fixed the wording to suit his situation. “Maybe she wanted to give you counsel on who’d take over for you once you came back?” She was shooting in the dark, but she was pretty sure that was the reason for Maze walking out. 

Lucifer sighed. He understood where she was coming from, but there was no going back now. He had put too much time into grooming Lilith. If he sought out Maze’s counsel now he’d be in Hell even longer and after the past twenty-four hours, he didn’t want to spend another minute away from Chloe. Lucifer ran his hand along Chloe’s shoulder up to her cheek. 

“You’re right…” Chloe's eyes widened at Lucifer's declaration. He never admitted to her being right. “But sadly I can’t take back my actions. If I train someone else now, I’ll be in Hell longer and I can’t… I can’t go back knowing I’ll be gone longer.” He ran his thumb across her cheek bone. “I have the equivalent of a month here left to go. A month, Detective… Don’t make me spend any longer in that cesspool.” 

His words broke her heart. His eyes were pleading. She shook her head, she didn’t want that for him. She brought his head down so she could kiss him. Whatever Maze and Lucifer had to work out, they could do when he came back. She’d help if she had to for the meantime. She didn’t want him away longer than he had to be. They’d work through the conflict when he came back in a month’s time. It was selfish, but when was she ever selfish. 

Chloe pulled away and ran a hand along his beard. She took her time mapping out the features on his face. She ran her fingers along every crease and freckle. Lucifer didn’t pull away, in return he leaned into her touch. 

“We better get dressed before anyone else comes over…” 

“Shower?” He asked with a smile. She nodded her head and dropped her arms. Lucifer pulled at the blanket so it dropped to the floor. Chloe let out a squeak. She dropped to the floor and tried to pick the blanket up. Lucifer quickly collected Chloe in his arms and walked them over to the bathroom. The sound of her laughter was music to his ears. 

“Lucifer!” She wiggled against Lucifer’s hold. 

“Ooo Detective, careful now. Don’t start something you don’t intend on finishing.” Chloe ceased her movement immediately and felt what he was talking about. His head was buried in the nook of her neck leaving kisses along her shoulders. Her hand ran up the back of his head taking in every kiss he had to offer. 

“Shower now,” she ordered. Lucifer dropped his arms and watched as she walked off towards the stairs. “You coming?” 

Lucifer watched her go. If he only had a few hours left with Chloe, he was going to use them to his full advantage. From now until Michael arrived, he’d cherish every single second he had with Chloe. 

_________________________

  
  


It was a few hours before Michael found himself back on Earth. The penthouse was empty when he walked out of the elevator. The place was dead quiet. The first thing he did was walk over to the bar. He grabbed the biggest glass he could find along with his brother’s finest bottle of brandy. He walked out into the balcony and took a seat on one of the chairs overlooking the city. 

There was a nice breeze in the air. Michael set the bottle over the glass and poured himself a drink. Once he was done he set the bottle down and picked up his glass. He quietly sipped at his drink as he looked over the city. The sound of car horns, police sirens, and protesters never sounded so blissful to his ears. Michael closed his eyes and took in the sounds Earth had to offer. 

_________________________

  
  


Chloe and Lucifer walked out of the elevator hand in hand. They had just come back from a late lunch date. As they stepped out of the elevator they came in contact with a gust of wind coming from the sliding glass door being opened. Someone was in the penthouse. Lucifer stepped in front of Chloe, pushing her behind him. Chloe tried to get him to stop but Lucifer quietly made his way over to the balcony. 

Chloe rolled her eyes once she saw the back of Michael’s head along the window. She slapped Lucifer across the chest and pushed him out of the way. If Michael was going to start a fight it was better she was between the brother’s before they started swinging. 

To Chloe’s surprise, Michael looked calm. One leg was crossed over the other, sipping a very large glass of alcohol. His foot was bobbing in the air like he was listening to a song. All the while, his eyes were closed ignoring her presence. Lucifer leaned against the door frame and watched Chloe grab a chair and place it in front of Michael. 

She immediately sat in front of him so he could focus on her. It took a minute before he looked up and smiled at her. 

“Did the two of you have fun?” He asked. Michael looked over to his brother, there was no remorse on Lucifer’s face. He shook his head and focused back on Chloe. She nodded her head and took his hand. She could see the pain behind his eyes. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah…” He slipped his hand out of Chloe’s. The sentiment didn’t go unnoticed by Lucifer. Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest and stood on stand by. 

“Are you sure? You know…” Michael cut her off. 

“I’m fine.” He placed his glass on the small table besides him. She couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “Lilith is always a treat,” he said to his brother. “Excellent choice by the way. You know they say female rulers are better than males.” Lucifer shook his head, he knew his brother was egging him on. “Talked with Charles… got down to the brass tacks. Your intell was correct, but I had to make sure. So sorry.” Lucifer walked out into the balcony, he knew this conversation was going somewhere. “And you know what else I found out?”

“What did you find out, Michael?” He asked to amuse his brother.

“I found out that Caine was tracking you and every celestial on Earth. Mom, Amenadiel, Mazikeen, you, and even Gaudium. The little weasel is stalking around Earth under our very noses.” Michael let out a little laugh. 

“Where is this going Michael?”

“I’m getting there…” he uncrossed his legs and sat up straight. “Five celestials, brother. Five. I pulled everything out of Caine and he knew nothing about any other celestials on Earth. Mom couldn’t have known.” Lucifer tried butting in, but Michael cut him off. “Maybe she was looking for something else, we don’t know. All I know is that Caine spent his time tracking celestials and all he came by were five. He had information before mom even came to you. I need this Sam… I need to know they are alive and safe…”

Lucifer dropped his arms, he didn’t know what to say. He knew there was a possibility of Michael’s words being true but he didn’t want to give his brother false hope. 

“There could be a reason he didn’t find more Michael…” he sighed. “You need to come to terms that maybe they…”

“Don’t…” he held his index finger up. “If they were they’d reside within the City’s gates. Last I checked, I have not gotten word. Lilith checked in Hell for me, nothing. They are wandering this place alone and scared, I need to find them.”

Chloe was lost. She couldn’t comprehend what they were talking about. She looked between the two as they talked amongst themselves. It was almost as if she wasn’t even there. Neither bothered to fill her in on what they were talking about. So she stayed quiet and patiently listened. 

Lucifer threw his hands up in the air. He was in. He’d assist in any ways possible. If his brother needed him to believe that other celestial beings were living on Earth, he’d do it. 

“Since the stone is most likely gone for good. How do you plan on finding them?” 

Michael let a smile spread across his face. He pushed himself out of his chair so he could finally stand. 

“The little cherub… If I remember correctly, Gaudium was always a helpful little creature. If the little terror is as Caine said, on Earth, I believe he’d contribute a great deal to my search for my offsprings…” 

And right there the word was out. 

Michael walked away from his seat and over to his brother. He wrapped his arm over Lucifer’s shoulder and pulled them away so they could talk in private. 

Chloe sat rooted in her seat. She was sure she heard correctly, but she couldn’t believe her ears. She stared ahead at Michael’s seat trying to take in the new information. Michael had a kid? Michael said offspring, but she wasn’t sure if there was an s behind the g. She placed a hand over her forehead trying to slow down her thought process. 

She finally understood Michael's obsession with Charles Harvey and Hank Abbott. He was looking for his child. Chloe stood from her chair and looked around the balcony. The brothers were nowhere to be found. 

“Lucifer? Michael?” She called out. She could hear the vague response from Lucifer inside the penthouse. She stepped through the glass door and walked over to the twins over by the library. The two were talking in another language so Chloe couldn’t understand. It all sounded like gibberish to her. 

She looked out on the desk and found multiple books pertaining to demonology and summoning spells. In all her time exploring Lucifer’s place, she never knew he owned books of this caliber. She ran her fingers along the leather spines. It sent shivers down her back. Interested to see what was inside, Chloe pulled the cover back from one of the books. It was written in another language. Latin? She started sounding out the words out loud to try and make sense of it. 

Lucifer closed the book before she could say too much. 

“Easy Detective, it isn’t wise to utter Latin around books of witchcraft.” Chloe slowly backed away from the book and over to Michael. He was going over a book in his hands. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“Possible location our little cherub would hide out. Caine could never give me a location because he lost track of him in the twentieth century, but he did mention something about witchcraft…” he went back to flipping pages. His mind was glued to the book, no longer interested in anything else. 

Chloe felt a hand rest upon her shoulder. She looked up and found Lucifer looking down at her. 

“I would have told you sooner, but it wasn’t my place…”

She shook her head, “no no, that’s fine. I wasn’t…” she looked over towards Michael. “I gave him so much crap about this case Dan and I were working on… I didn’t know…” 

“I wouldn’t have expected you to know. Michael can be very secretive at times…”

“You knew?” she asked. Lucifer nodded his head. 

“I lost track of the kids when I found Michael in Sandalphon’s care. The boy took off with the babe before I could finish unchaining Michael.” He lowered his voice so his brother couldn’t hear. “Michael had amnesia and knew nothing of what happened. I sent all my best demons out to find the two, they came back empty handed. I just assumed…” he looked over to his brother, “they were dead.” 

“He’s been searching all this time?” She looked over at Michael. He tossed the book on top of the desk and began flipping through another. “How long has he been searching?” She couldn’t imagine the pain Michael was going through right now. 

“I’m not sure how long…”

“Sandalphon… that’s why Michael wants him. He could have the location of the children couldn’t he?” 

Michael looked up from his books and over in the pairs direction. Lucifer felt put on the spot. Both of them were looking at him. Michael closed his book and waited for his brother to answer Chloe’s question. When he didn’t answer Michael spoke up. 

“Go ahead tell her… tell her how you’ve kept him hidden from me all these years.”

“What?” She turned over to Lucifer confused. 

“You never once asked. I never knew you were even looking for them!” 

Chloe knew where this was going and she wasn’t having any of it. She stopped Lucifer from raising his voice anymore and pointed her finger at Michael to dare him to retaliate. Both men bit their tongues and stayed quiet. 

“What was the deal between the two of you?” 

“That I watch over my brother's assets and favors until he returns from Hell…” Michael said, defeated. He collapsed into the chair besides the desk. 

“Once I’ve returned _for good_ ,” Lucifer added emphasis to the words, “only then will Michael be given Sandalphon. He would no longer be a prisoner of war. I’d release the monster over to the care of my brother. To do as he pleases or wishes.”

The two looked at each other as the words were exchanged. Michael looked defeated and tired. He nodded his head remembering their deal. 

“I’m sorry, brother…” Michael waved his hand in the air. 

“It’s fine. You’re right… It’s not time yet.” He stood from his chair and started closing up the books in front of him. “I have a lead anyways.”

“Gaudium?” Lucifer asked. 

“Yes… it shouldn't be hard to track him down. Afterall, I do have the best tracker available at my disposal.” 

Mazikeen. 

He tapped his index finger against one of the books in front of him. He remembered he was supposed to pay her for her services. He shook his head. He knew he was going to have to work overtime to convince her to do this little job for him. 

Michael looked over at the time, it was four o’clock. 

“I’m sure Lilith can handle things on her end… you don’t have to leave just yet. Stay.” He began stacking the books on the desk and putting them off to the side. “I have all these books to look through. I’ll give you your privacy and head down to the club. The place is closed for the night. If you need me I’ll be down there.” He started putting books in his hands when Chloe stopped him. 

“The club was only closed last night, it’s reopening as we speak…” Michael put the books down. He was confused. 

“How long have I been gone?” He asked. 

“A day, Michael…” He placed the books down and tried to recall everything that’s happened in his time away. 

“I have a date tonight… that’s tonight, right?” he asked Chloe. She nodded her head. She was glad he remembered Ella, she had been texting her non-stop with outfit choices. A smile spread across Michael’s face recalling the conversation. 

“A date?” Lucifer repeated. The word sounded ludicrous coming from Michael’s mouth. 

“What, you don’t think I can’t get a date? I’m better looking than you.” 

The air was no longer tense between all of them. She could see the smiles go between the two. They literally had the exact same face. If it wasn’t for Michael’s insistence on having his natural curls present, she’d never be able to tell the difference based on looks. 

“Nonsense, everyone knows I’m the better looking twin.” Lucifer turned to Chloe, “aren’t I the better looking twin, Detective?”

“That’s biased, she’s practically your girlfriend.” Chloe's eyes bugged out.

“Well we haven’t established that just yet…” Chloe said. 

“You don’t want to be my girlfriend?” Lucifer said in a hurt tone. Chloe shook her head moving over to Lucifer. 

“I didn’t say that…”

Michael clapped his hands together, “you’re dating, end of discussion.” He looked at the couple satisfied that neither of them complained. “Good. Now,” he turned away and walked over to the bedroom, “I have a date to get ready for. Will you be sticking around brother?” 

Chloe snaked her arms around Lucifer, she already knew the answer. He wrapped his arms around Chloe in response. He placed a kiss on her head and rocked her. 

“I’m afraid I must return back to Hell, my dearest.” Chloe nodded her head against his chest. “I promise to be back within a month. If Lilith has things handled before that, I can come back sooner.”

“I wouldn’t want to rush anything… just come back when you are ready.”

“Lilith has a great handle on the place, brother. I’m sure you could stay a little longer,” Michael voiced. 

“I’m afraid if I stay any longer I won’t be so willing to leave when it’s time…” he pulled Chloe away so he could look at her. “I’m sorry it couldn’t be longer.” 

“You gave me a whole day, that’s more than I thought I’d have.” 

Michael slipped into the room and let the two talk in private. If his brother was leaving this second, it was best to let them say their goodbyes without him hovering around. He didn’t wish to take away more of their time together. Michael disappeared into the bedroom and looked through his phone before making his way into the bathroom to get showered for the night.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder, Michael did tell Dan before anyone else... hence why he was relaxed about the kidnapping. Dads got to stick together. And yes, the kids are Cal and Elaine. Yes, they are very much alive and well.


	6. Hearts Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7mApzfmaRBuB98VZkxBtKs?si=3qBrwMOQRWyO7llKFSFTQA
> 
> I always make playlists for my stories. So if you wanna listen to it, feel free. It's the music I listened to while writing this chapter. It's also the music playing in the background of the club. 
> 
> Enjoy! This is the last full chapter. Next is but an epilogue. Thank you for reading! :)

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time he walked out of the bathroom. One thing was for certain, the penthouse was silent. He was sure he was alone. He had his towel wrapped around his waist when he entered the bedroom with his outfit of choice in hand. 

As he passed the doorway, he spotted Chloe sitting on the couch with her knees to her chest. He tossed his clothing on the bed and put on leisure clothing. 

As he came down the stairs, her eyes met his. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She gave him a smile as she tried to wipe them away as fast as possible. 

Michael opened his arms, inviting her for a hug. She politely shot him down with a shake of the head. 

He understood. It was stupid of him to even offer. He gave her a head nod and made his way over to the chair in front of her. 

“You okay?” he asked, not making eye contact. 

“Yeah…”

“Is the child with you tonight?” 

“No, she’s at her grandparents this weekend. You don’t remember?” 

Michael shrugged his shoulder. The days were lost to him, he’d been gone for almost a month from his perspective. He wasn’t even sure what day it was. If it wasn’t for Chloe, he was sure he would have forgotten his date with Ella tonight. 

He laid a hand on Chloe’s knee to grab her attention. As the two made eye contact, they shot one another a smile. It was clear that neither one of their smiles reached their eyes. 

“You sure you're going to be okay?” Michael asked. Chloe let out a chuckle. After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, he was more concerned with her feelings than his own. She covered her mouth to try and stop laughing. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just… you… you are going through something far worse and I’m here crying over something not even…” she stopped herself when she noticed Michael’s smile fade. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…” he stood up from his seat and sat besides Chloe. “I know how much my brother means to you. It’s only natural to mourn the loss, even if it is just for a while.” Michael went ahead and tapped her knee, to show in good faith that they were going to be fine. 

“About your kids…” 

“Oh…” he shook his head, “please… another day but not now…”

“I didn’t know…”

“No one knows. Again, can we not talk about this?” 

She could see the pain in his eyes, so she nodded her head and dropped the conversation. Chloe went ahead and grabbed his hand off her knee and gave it a squeeze. 

Michael gave her a small smile before pulling it away. His attitude flipped like a light switch. He had a smile on his face. Most likely his attempt to hide his pain. 

“You should come by Lux tonight and bring the gang. I’m sure Linda needs a break from my nephew and brother. Maze… well does she really need an invite?”

“Don’t you have a date with Ella tonight?” 

“I know and I remembered thanks to you.” He stood up from his seat and walked away from the couch. “All I’m saying is that you should come by tonight and let loose. It’s been a rough day for the both of us…” he gathered the glasses and brought them over to the bar. “It’d also be nice to have a buffer, should I screw up…”

“You’re nervous about tonight?” she asked. 

“Of course I’m nervous. A beautiful woman like Miss Lopez going on a date with a basket case like me…”

“You’re not a basket case Michael. You know that right?” He shrugged his shoulders and turned away from her. Chloe stood up from her seat and walked over to Michael. She placed her hand on his back and rubbed small circles. Michael shrugged out of her touch and turned in her direction.

“It’s getting late, we should start heading out so you could get dressed. Invite Mazikeen and Linda. I haven’t seen my sister-in-law in weeks. Tell her to leave my nephew over to Amenadiel for the night, I’m sure he can handle his son all by himself.” 

Everything Michael said went right over her head. She registered his words, but she wasn’t going to acknowledge them just yet. 

“You’re not a basket case. I’ll send the message over to the girls, but know you’re going to do fine tonight. Ella really likes you.”

“You think so?” He showed the first sign of a smile this evening. 

“Oh she’s smitten by you. She spoke up for you yesterday at the La Brea car scene. Tell me that’s not someone who likes you.”

Michael started to blush. He looked away and grabbed his drink. Chloe thought he was slick but she saw the blush on his face. 

“Alright, get out of here,” he said in his best east coast accent. He smiled over at her when she shook her head at him. “You better be there tonight, I’ll get you myself if you don’t show.”

“I’ll be there I promise.”

“Good.” He opened his arms waiting for a hug. She walked into his embrace and hugged him. 

Before she knew what was even happening, she felt her stomach fly into her chest. When the sensation was over she found herself outside of her apartment. Her keys were in the key fob waiting for her. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but she unlocked the door and let herself in. A fresh bouquet of flowers was waiting for her. She walked over and looked at the letter that was sticking out. 

_I can’t wait until I’m back at your side once more. Xoxo Lucifer_

She clutched the note to her chest and bent down to smell the flowers. 

  
  


_________________________

  
  


**Michael**

  
  


Michael was panicking. His window to get affairs in order was closing in on him. He wasn’t prepared. 

He wasn’t prepared for tonight in general. He thought he had more time to get affairs in order for the opening. He thought he had the night to figure things out with his new discovery. 

Turns out time wasn’t on his side today, but he was ready to put everything aside for his date with Ella. Did that mean he was going to stop panicking? No. He was going to panic until the moment she was in front of him. Why? Because everytime he was in her presence she made him nervous. 

Michael had an hour to make himself presentable. He walked into the bathroom and looked over his appearance. His hair was long, longer than Ella would remember it being. He knew he would have to deal with that. He pulled clippers out from the drawer and made sure they were charged. 

Once they were ready, he turned the clippers on and took a deep breath. It had been awhile since he’d cut his own hair. 

Eager to get it over with, Michael ran the clippers over his side and shaved a good chunk of hair off. 

“Shit!” he cursed. It was too low. 

He switched tactics and placed the clippers on the counter. He looked around for anything that could hold the top of his hair up. He found a couple of bobby pins in a dish besides the sink. No doubt they belonged to Chloe. He grabbed a few and placed them in his hair. 

After a few minutes of regretting his decision, Michael managed to salvage his hair. He gave himself a three-sixty view to make sure his amature haircut wasn’t noticeable. A little bit of styling paste and he was good. He dusted the stray hairs off his chest and shoulders and looked into the mirror once more. 

He needed a shave. Michael brought the clippers back out and changed it’s settings. He took a moment to look over his features once he was finished. Two small patches of white were already forming on the sides of his chin. He shook his head. All the stress was finally getting to him. 

He took a deep breath and made his way into the bedroom where his outfit laid on the bed.

He grabbed the dress shirt and slipped it over his shoulders. Once the bottoms were clipped into place, Michael grabbed his pants and slipped them over his legs. Forgetful of his footwear, Michael went ahead and tied his shoes before he creased his shirt even more. 

Crisis averted. He added the last touch to his outfit, his vest and jacket. He gave himself a once over. 

Something was off. He frowned. He didn’t feel like himself. He felt like his brother. 

He quickly messed up his hair and shook his hair loose.

It was progress. 

He shed his jacket off his shoulders fast and tossed it onto the bed. 

Michael looked back into the mirror. He groaned in frustration. He still looked like his brother. 

He unbuttoned his sleeve fast and started rolling them up to his elbows. 

Progress. 

Michael lifted his wrist up so he could check the time. Ten minutes to go. His eyes widened at the loss of time. He pivoted out of the room and down the stairs. His shoes clicked against the floor as he made his way into the elevator. 

Once he was inside, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He’d been messaging Chloe about tonight's arrangements. He organized an Uber for the women. As he opened up their shared text messages, he’d received confirmation that the Uber had picked her up first, along with Maze. He slipped his phone back into his pocket knowing they were on their way. 

He took a deep breath and tried to settle his nerves. _I can do this. You can do this,_ he told himself. _Fun amongst friends, you can do this. Ella Lopez. Yeah you remember her._ He smiled at his reflection. _There we go._ He fixed his tie as he waited. 

As the elevator doors opened, Michael stepped out and came in contact with workers moving about the place. 

The club was already open. A trickle of people were already lounging around enjoying the soft music.

Michael pulled his wrist back up to check the time, it was currently six fifty-five. Ella and the women would be arriving any minute. He walked over to the front door and made sure to notify the bouncer that Chloe and guests would be arriving soon. 

Time was going by faster than he expected. Within minutes, Ella would be arriving soon. Michael could already feel his heart was pounding against his chest. He was sure he could hear it in his ears. He was nervous. He pulled at his tie to give him some breathing room. 

Determined not to look like he was waiting for the women’s arrival, Michael made his way over to the bar. He needed something to drink. As he walked up, the bartender slid a glass in his direction.

“Thank you…” he lifted up to his lips and took a sip. “Everything is set up?” 

“Yeah, you’re fine Mr. Demiurgos.” Michael nodded his head. He finished his drink and leaned against the bar. He pulled his wrist up to check the time. Only two minutes had passed. He took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. Just as he was getting ready to check with Kyle in the front, an employee tapped him on the shoulder. 

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Demiurgos… but we have a problem.”

“Can’t this problem be solved without my help?” Michael asked. The bouncer shook his head. One last time, Michael checked the time. One minute to go. “Very well…” 

The bouncer escorted him over to the back of the bar into a private room. Right away Michael knew this wasn’t going to be a short task. 

_________________________

**Ella**

  
  


Ella was about to walk out of her apartment when she got a text from Chloe. Curious to know what Chloe wanted, she pulled out her phone and looked over the text message. 

**Please tell me you haven’t left yet.** It read. 

Ella closed the door to her apartment and locked the door behind her. She began typing as she walked over to her car. 

**Not yet. I’m heading to my car right now. Why?**

As she looked up from her phone she found a black SUV in the parking lot with three women with all their heads out of the window. They were all waving at her. A round of cat calls and loud whistling were directed at her. Ella turned around to show the other women her outfit. The whistling only got louder. 

“Alright, alright! Get in, nerd. We’re going to get you laid!” Maze called out. 

Ella could help but let out a nervous laugh. Linda and Chloe waved their arms out motioning her to get inside. 

Ella did as she was told and jumped into the car. 

“Look at you Ellen. I never thought you had a body under those kid clothes.” Maze looked over from the passenger seat and nodded her head at Ella’s dress attire. “If Michael doesn’t take you up to the penthouse at the end of the night, I will.”

“Maze!” Chloe and Linda called out, Ella blushed. She knew she looked good, that was the point. She wanted to make an impression on Michael. So she went a little over the top with her outfit. She felt confident. 

Before they could start going over the plans for the night, Ella leaned into Chloe’s side. 

“Hey Chlo, who ordered the Uber? I’m willing to pay half, if we’re splitting…”

Maze looked over her seat and smiled at Ella. The demon had ears like a bat. 

“Lover boy paid for the Uber.”

“Michael paid?” Ella said. 

“Yeah,” Chloe replied. “He was feeling a little bad about yesterday so he went all out for us tonight. I promise we won’t crash your night. We’ll be a safe distance away… you know watching.” The last part was but a whisper, but Ella heard. 

“So you and Michael?” Linda leaned over. “How’d that happen?”

“I… I’m not entirely sure actually,” she let out a nervous chuckle. “Their was a murder outside Lux and I was doing my job and he kinda just… caught my eye.” 

“Come on Ella, you two were totally making heart eyes at each other,” Chloe added. 

“Ooo! Planning on getting lucky today?” Linda asked with a wink. 

“I…” she blushed. “I don’t know,” she waved Linda off. “Stop.”

“If he’s anything like Lucifer, you’re in for a heck of a night,” she added. 

“Linda!” Chloe called out. She started laughing. “Actually she’s right. If he’s anything like lucifer…” She was lost in a day dream. 

“You slept with Lucifer! When?” Linda and Ella yelled out.

“Probably all day yesterday… but, this morning,” Maze added, “you should have seen it,” she thrusted against the chair. “I caught them in the act.”

“Can you please not molest my car,” the driver warned. 

Maze gave the driver the stink eye, “whatever.”

“Lucifer stopped by?” Ella was happy to hear that her friend was in town. “Will the big guy be here tonight?”

“No… he had to go back. He just stopped by to go over some things with Michael… but it’s okay. We got a day's worth of bonding and catching up.”

“I bet you did,” Maze said. 

All the women immediately started laughing. Tonight was going to be a fun night. They couldn’t wait to drink the night away and have a nice time. Ella had her pack with her and a very handsome just waiting for her to show up. The expectations were high and she was excited to see where the night would take her. 

_________________________

  
  


Because Ella lived on the other side of town, it had taken a little longer than expected to arrive at the club. It was no problem, the driver provided excellent service and blasted decent music in the car for all of them to enjoy.

By the time they arrived it was a little past eight in the evening. Everyone rushed out of the SUV and made their way over to the front of the line. All the people waiting on the side were not happy to know that Ella and company were allowed inside without so much as a name. 

Benefits of knowing the owner. 

They entered the building right away and came in full contact with the bass of the music. Maze lifted her arms up and danced her way into the club leaving the women behind. Ella stuck close to Linda and Chloe, making sure not to look too obvious that she was looking for Michael. 

“I didn’t even get his cell number! I hope he’s not upset we’re late!” Ella yelled over the loud music. Chloe leaned over and yelled by Ella’s ear. 

“I texted him about ten minutes ago! He never got back to me but I’m sure he’s just working!”

Ella pulled away and looked around the club. It was packed. Linda pulled the women over to the bar. She was on a mission to get hammered. 

“Three tequila shots, please!” She yelled over the music. The bartender nodded his head and got to work on their drinks. “Michael still honors the friends drink for free rule, right?” 

The bartender handed the drinks over and confirmed her question, “we could never forget you Linda.” He winked over at the doctor making her blush. Ella walked over and nudged the woman. 

“You got that Milf glow, Linda. Get it!” She handed out the shots and cheered the women before shooting back her first drink of the night. 

“More!” Chloe called out for the bartender to refill their drinks. 

_________________________

The three were soon joined by Maze. The demon had already gotten a jump on the fun. She had two men on both sides of her. She handed one off to Linda and left the taller, more mascaline one for herself. Linda immediately let the man take her onto the dance floor. 

Ella was reluctant to start dancing. She wanted to hold off until she saw Michael, but Chloe and Maze’s pull was too strong. She gave in and followed her party onto the dance floor. The DJ was playing electro-pop style music tonight. 

She had no complaints, the music was amazing. It was easy to dance to. With four shots of tequila coursing through her bloodstream, she was having the time of her life. Her dance partner was none other than Chloe. The two jumped up and down to the music when it called for it. 

She let the music take her until the dance floor thinned out so she could find Michael. 

_________________________

**Michael**

  
  


He wasn’t sure how long he’d been gone. He’d forgone his watch once Oso dragged him into his private office to “discuss” things with an unruly club goer. 

The night had taken a turn for the worst after that. The man had thrown up on Michael’s sleeve, forcing him to discard the article of clothing. Luckily he had a black shirt stashed away. It was a tight shirt, but it would have to do. He debated whether or not to throw the vest on, the man had ripped off a few buttons. His outfit for the evening had been compromised. 

Michael sighed. He left under dressed without it on, so he slipped it over his shoulders. 

He finished cleaning up and stepped out of the back room. He immediately came in contact with the blaring of music. 

He tapped his pants trying to find his phone, but he couldn’t find it. _Shit,_ he said to himself. 

He walked out from behind the bar and called Geoff over. The man walked right up to Michael and leaned into his side. 

“What time is it,” he asked. The man pulled out his phone and showed the time to his boss. It was eight thirty. “Fuck!” 

He’d been gone two in a half hours. He looked out into the club trying to catch any sight of Chloe, Maze, Linda, or Ella. Before Michael could disappear into the masses. Geoff pulled Michael in so he could tell him something. 

“Your date arrived about thirty minutes ago. They just left for the dance floor.” He pointed over in the direction where he could find his party. 

He let the man go so he could go back to handing out drinks. Michael felt relieved to know Ella hadn’t been waiting too long. He looked over the mass of people and started looking over the faces in the crowd. He couldn’t find her or Chloe anywhere. He saw Maze and Linda but no sign of his date. 

He felt a tap on his shoulder, so he turned around. Sadly it wasn’t anyone he knew. Michael put on a smile anyways and smiled at the man in front of him. 

“Mr. Morningstar,” he offered his hand for a handshake. Michael extended the pleasantries and shook the man’s hand. “It is a pleasure to see you here tonight. I was afraid when I heard you name was associated with a murder.” 

In his best accent, Michael put on his brother's persona. “I’m always tied to a murder,” he said. The man’s eyes widened, “I’m a consultant of the LAPD, I work with homicide.”

The man let out a nervous chuckle and let go of Michael’s hand.

“What can I help you with… Mister?” Michael looked over the man’s features. He already didn’t like the man. His collar was popped up and he had the stance of a man who always got what he wanted. Michael made a face when he saw the stupid grin on the man’s face. 

“Harrison, Liam Harrison. I was wondering if we could talk about me asking for one of your famous favors…”

_________________________

**Ella**

Like a homing beeken for tall, dark, and handsome men, Ella locked onto Michael right away. She pulled Chloe off to the side of the dance floor to get a better look at him. She wasn’t ready to see him just yet. She was fine, she was just trying to talk herself into going up to him. Or just having him find her first. 

She was nervous. Her stomach was doing summersaults just looking at Michael trying to close the buttons to his vest. She bit down on her bottom lip just thinking of the possibility of climbing him like a palm tree. Out of the corner of Chloe’s eye, she caught Ella. 

She stopped her dancing and stood besides the woman. She was trying to see what she was looking at. Nowhere could she find the man that was responsible for Ella’s gaze. 

“Who are you looking at?” Chloe asks, she obviously knew, she just wanted Ella to show her. Ella pulls her eyes away only after Chloe stopped dancing. 

“Huh?” Chloe went ahead and repeated her question. “Oh,” Ella lets out a chuckle, “Michael…” 

“Michael? Where is he?” She looked around harder trying to find him. Ella discreetly pointed in the direction Michael was located. She could see Michael trying to dismiss the man next to him. “Looks like someone’s trying to distract your date.”

“He doesn’t look too happy to be discussing things with that man…” 

“He doesn’t…” Chloe could see the visible distaste for the man written all over Michael’s face. “You should go save him from a boring discussion.” She pushed Ella in Michael’s direction but Ella dug her heels into the floor. “What’s wrong?” 

“I… I’m nervous, okay?” She pushed Chloe in front of her so she could hide behind the Detective. Chloe spun around and tried to steady Ella’s shifty nature. The poor scientist was trying to stay hidden from Michael’s gaze. 

“What for?” Chloe pulled Ella out of the dancefloor and over to the tables off to the side. 

“I’ve never been with anyone so… sweet. I’m afraid I’m going to mess things up…” Chloe let a smile spread across her face. The two were so much alike in their worries, it was hard for her not to laugh. Chloe brushed Ella’s hair out of her eyes to get her to focus on her. 

If she had ever been given a sibling she’d wish she’d had a sister like Ella. The woman had managed to look passed Michael’s cold nature and see the sweet side of him. With everything going on with him right now, she was glad he was taking a break and agreed to continue his date with her. 

The realization that the two were simply just teenagers in grown up bodies came to mind. They were both so caught up in their own worries that they were running themselves ragged with anxiety. 

“Ella if you think Michael isn’t nervous as well, you are mistaken. I saw him picking out his outfit before I left and that,” she motioned over to Michael, “that wasn’t the outfit I saw on the bed.” She let out a chuckle, “as I can see he regrets the choice.” 

Ella looked over at Michael and watched him fuss with the buttons. She let a smile spread across his face. 

“He was really nervous when you last saw him?” Chloe nodded her head. 

“You seem to have made a really strong impression on him.” She knocked her shoulder into Ella’s. She leaned into Ella’s side and laid some sisterly advice. “Go over there and steal him away. Looks like he could use some rescuing.” 

“I can do this,” she was saying it more to herself but Chloe took it as Ella addressing her. 

“Yes you can. Just walk over there, silly,” Chloe gave Ella a push. 

“Alright, alright!” She let out a chuckle, “I’m going, I'm going.” She put one foot in front of the other. The only way to Michael was through the dance floor. 

As she stepped through the crowd not only did the song change, but the crowd divided to let her through. 

_“She’s falling in but I said it’s okay_

_I’m falling in but she says it’s okay…”_

  
  


“You got this Ella!” 

That’s all she needed to hear. She weaved her way through the crowd with ease. She left like Moses, the dance floor parted as she beelined for Michael. Like fate, he turned away from his company and watched Ella head over to him. He waved the men away before she could join his company. From the other side of the room, Chloe shook her head as the two drooled over one another. 

_________________________

  
  


**Michael**

  
  


Michael shushed Liam right away. He had heard enough of his business proposal. As his head turned his eyes locked on his date. 

Time froze. 

He could hear the muffled argument of Liam in the background, but he couldn’t register anything. He was in a trance. 

Ella somehow managed to part the dance floor and slide through the messy crowd in ease. 

He could feel his heart thumping against his chest. He felt like a cartoon character with his heart hammering like a jackhammer out in the open for everyone to see. 

Ella looked breathtaking. A smile crept onto his face. It felt like it was just the two of them in the room, no one else. 

“It appears my date is here… if you’ll excuse me.” Micheal stepped away from Liam and made his way over to Ella. 

He could feel his heartbeat through his ears again. He was either extremely excited to see Ella or the music was insanely loud. He chose the former. 

The distance between them gave him a chance to observe her clothing. She was wearing a yellow crop top that had his eyes laser focus on her chest. Her hair held the loosest waves. His smile brightened. Her hair was down. Her hair was long. He shook his head and pushed a few people out of the way. 

His eyes caught a glimpse of her bottom wear. _She was in a sequence skirt.?_ He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he loved it. 

He continued to push club goers out of the way. He growled to himself at how crowded it was tonight. He needed half of this crowd gone. He’d have to talk to Kyle to cut the entry off. 

He looked over the crowd and found her a few feet away. She had the biggest smile on her face. 

_God she’s beautiful,_ he said to himself. 

“There you are! Where have you been all night?” She pulled Michael in for a hug. He wasn’t expecting it, he immediately froze. Her breasts were against his torso. His body was on fire from the contact. Once she pulled away he snapped out of it. 

“I’m terribly sorry!” He yelled over the loud music. “I got tied up working. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.” She shook her head making her hair move with her. Michael looked down with fascination as she beamed with so much joy. 

“No! I just got here. Traffic was crazy.” She grabbed his hand and pulled off the dance floor. She led them over to a vacant table over to the side. 

He followed her without hesitation. Michael looked down and locked his fingers hers. The first thing he noticed was her soft hands. They were surprisingly soft for a forensic worker. 

Once they were successfully away from the loud music, she plopped herself on the leather booth. 

Their hands were no longer connected. He mourned the loss. 

Ella patted the spot besides her waiting for Michael to have a seat. 

“Are you going to stand all night?” She smiled up at him. He shook his head and had himself a seat. Discontent with his distance, Ella scooted close to him and wrapped her arm around his elbow. 

“You look beautiful,” he whispered close to her ear. He pulled his head back once he uttered the words. Ella looked up with the brightest smile on his face. She was about to say something to him when Maze slapped his injured side and sat across from the pair. 

“You two look cozy. I brought us some drinks,” she set a whole tray of shots down and looked straight at Michael with a smirk on her face. “New haircut, nice.” 

“Thanks…” he said with sarcasm. 

Ella looked up at Michael and noticed what Maze was talking about. 

“Loving the hair cut,” she looked up and ran her other hand along the side of his head. 

He let out a chuckle, “you really like it?” He watched her nod her head. “I actually cut it myself.”

“You did a really good job.”

“Why thank you.” 

Maze rolled her eyes and started handing out shots. 

“Oh… I had my fill for now. Maybe in an hour,” Ella said. Michael looked over to her surprised. “I had four shots with the girls while we tried to find you. You don’t want loosey goosey Ella just yet. She’s a handful.” Michael let out a chuckle but heeded Ella’s words. 

“Ten shots Mazikeen, really?” Michael said. 

“What? Come on, I haven’t seen you wasted in weeks. Five shots is nothing to you.” The demon already started lining up five shots for her and Michael. Ella scooted to the edge of the seat and got ready for the show she was about to witness. “That’s unless you are trying to play innocent for little miss right here?” Michael shot dagger eyes at Maze. 

“She’s calling you out Mikey.” Ella leaned into his side and shook his arm. “Come on show her up.”

“You’re okay with me drinking?” 

“Sure. It’s supposed to be a fun night. As long as you don’t leave me and start making out with a complete stranger, I’m fine with a little competitive drinking.”

He would never leave Ella for a total stranger. Not even if he was piss drunk, he wouldn’t dream of leaving her for another woman tonight. 

“Come on, show Maze up,” she said, shaking his arm. 

That’s all he needed to hear. He scooted to the edge of the seat and fixed the line of his shot glasses. He lifted one up to examine what they’d be drinking. 

“Patron, I know it’s your favorite,” Maze said. Michael smiled at her choice. She was trying to get him fucked up tonight. “We racing, feather boy?” She lifted up a glass towards Michael.

“You’re going down Mazikeen.” Ella started jumping in her seat ready to see who’d win. Maze was the reigning champion at line shots. If Michael was this confident, she couldn’t wait to see how this would end. 

The two clinked their glasses together and shot it back into their mouths. Before he even finished his shot, Michael lifted his second and shot it back into his mouth. He did the same with the third and fourth. Maze was creeping behind him, but sadly Michael had already finished his fifth shot when she lifted her last. 

Michael smashed the shot onto the table and let out a rewarding holler. Ella jumped over his shoulders and helped rub Michael’s victory in Maze’s face. The demon rolled her eyes while biting down on a lime. 

“Look at you!” Ella sat back down on her seat and smiled up at Michael. “I’ve never seen anyone beat Maze at shots. You’re going to be okay, right?” She placed her hands on both sides of his face to check. 

“Of course.” He missed the split second her eyes traveled to his lips. 

Michael brought one of her hands over to his lips and gave it a kiss. 

Every time his lips touched her hands, her heart fluttered in her chest. She pulled them back when he let go.

Tired of the alcohol taste in his mouth, Michael picked up a lime and bit down on the wedge. 

“You see, much like my brother, I’m able to actually drink Miss Mazikeen here under the table. Although, I won’t, not tonight,” he dropped the lime on the dish. Maze rolled her eyes and reclined back into the booth. 

“Where have you been this whole time?” she asked. 

Michael went ahead and got comfortable as well. Ella followed suit. Her shoulders brushing along his arm. 

“I had a guy come in early and make a scene.” He looked down at his vest. “Threw up all over my shirt and ripped the buttons off my vest.” He flapped about the fabric showing Ella.

“I was wondering what was wrong with it,” she looked over the fabric. “I would just take it off… that’s if, it’s bugging you…” she didn’t mean for it to come off so insistent. Michael chuckled at Ella’s nervousness. He did as she instructed. It was annoying him. He slipped it off his shoulders and laid it on the table in front of them. 

Ella watched Michael the whole time. She couldn’t get over the size of his arms. Let alone how tight his black shirt was to his body. When Michael leaned back into the leather seat, she caught the scent of his cologne. 

Maze could see Ella discretely leaning into Michael’s side smelling him. The demon scrunched up her face as she watched Ella act weird. As Ella looked up she stopped immediately, embarrassed. 

“Okay…” Maze said, under her breath. “So a guy threw up on you, that took an hour?” she asked. 

“When it concerns the police it does,” he could see Ella looking up at him from the corner of his eye. He laid his hand on her knee, “it was alright. Just over intoxication. Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He felt her hand creep onto his. A smile made its way onto his face. “I uh.. I also got cornered by someone wanting a favor.”

“The guy I saw you with,” Ella asked. Michael nodded his head. 

“What did he want?” Maze asked.

“Services I don’t have and won’t do... Which reminds me,” he scooted to the edge of the booth and whispered something to Maze. Michael’s hand was still perfectly placed on her leg. Ella sat by and watched as Michael rubbed his thumb along the top of her knee. It provided a nice distraction as Michael held his conversation with Maze. When they were done, Maze stood up and left the two alone. 

Ella let out a nervous chuckle, “what was that about?” He slid back into his spot besides Ella. 

“What, that?” he motioned to his exchange with Maze. He flipped his hand so he could hold Ella’s hands in his. He waved his other hand dismissing its importance. “Nothing really. I just asked Mazikeen if she could escort someone to the back room. Something didn’t sit well with the man I was talking to earlier.”

Somehow his sentence sounded ridiculous to her. She let out a hearty laugh and shook her head. Michael didn’t see what was so funny, but he went ahead and followed her example. 

“You know you don’t have to lie to me. I can tell you sent her away so we could be alone.” Michael watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He wasn’t lying, but if it helped her not worry about the possible predator, who was he to call it out. 

Michael scooted closer to her. “I have to say, it is nice to have you to myself.” He let go of her hand and lifted his arm so it laid along the top of the booth. He turned in his seat so he could look at her better. “I haven’t had an opportunity to compliment you on how breathtaking you are tonight.” Michael leaned in and ran his hand along her cheek. 

Ella immediately lit up like a christmas tree. She could feel her cheeks heat up. There was no doubt in her mind at how hard she was blushing right now. Her stomach turned into a full on circus. It was doing summersaults, jumping jacks, balance beam walks, you name it. Michael was mentally putting her under a spell and she was falling for it. 

“Breathtaking?” she let out a giggle. “Oh, now someone is kissing up. Stop.” 

“Not a chance,” he said, smiling. 

“Ugh! Just go up to the penthouse if you’re going to be flirting all night.” Maze came back from her little side mission. The two looked over in her direction and found her with her hands on her hips. Ella had a look of disappointment as Maze ruined her moment with Michael. “Are we dancing or not?”

Michael turned to Ella, he wanted to know if that was something she wanted to do. He knew she just came from the dance floor. He didn’t want to assume that she wanted to start up again. Ella smiled up at Michael and nodded her head. 

“Can I have this dance?” Michael asked. He stood up first. He offered his hand to help her stand. While she took his hand, Michael ceased the opportunity to marvel at her full outfit. His eyes tried to stay on her eyes but they kept raking up and down her form. 

Ella elegantly stood from his seat and kept her hand in his, she wasn’t going to let go. She pulled him down the stairs and onto the dance floor. Maze followed close behind already dancing to the beat of the music playing in the background. 

Not quite ready to let go of her hand, Michael gave Ella a twirl. Her hair fanned out beautifully making Michael lose his focus. Ella acted fast and started dancing to the music. Michael snapped out of his daze and followed her example. 

Linda and Chloe soon joined the trio and took turns using Michael as a celestial dancing pole. Michael blamed it on the alcohol. There was no way Chloe would be dancing on him, if she wasn’t already hammered. 

Ella respectfully pushed the women away from Michael and took her date back into her hands. Michael grinned at Ella’s territorial display. He held her close and let her body grind against him. 

He fell into a trance. The smell of her perfume was in his nostrils. Her back was pressed against his torso as she danced in his arms. 

He could see the smiles from Chloe out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t care. He kept his head low as he danced with Ella. 

_________________________

  
  


Ella pulled Michael off the dance floor and over to the booth they once occupied earlier in the night. She collapsed onto the leather booth and patted the seat besides her. Michael gladly seated himself, his body needed a rest. Ella immediately laid her head on Michael’s shoulder. 

“I had to take a break, my feet were killing me,” she leaned forward and unstrapped her heels. The only thing Michael could hear was the thud of her pumps hitting the floor. “Oh my God! That’s much better,” she collapsed onto Michael’s side once more. 

He let out a chuckle as she pulled her feet up on the seat. 

“Would you like a foot massage?” As he uttered the words he realized how weird it sounded. He didn’t know Ella in that way. It was a reflex. He’d always massaged Linda and Chloe’s feet when they asked for it. 

When he felt Ella push away from him, he realized he’d messed up. He tried taking the statement back, but he soon found Ella’s feet on his lap. He looked down at them confused. 

“What you did offer, didn’t you?” 

Michael looked down at her feet and then back at her. 

“I expected a different response,” he let out a chuckle. He fixed his seating and faced her. He took her right foot in her hand and began massaging it. 

“I’ve been on weirder dates,” she said. She got comfortable and enjoyed the foot massage Michael was about to give her. 

“Name your weirdest date, ever,” he asked. He watched as Ella thought over her answer. When she was ready she propped herself up and answered him. 

“I once attended a rat funeral…”

“A rat funeral?” 

“Yeah, you’ve never attended one?”

Michael shook his head, Ella let out a laugh. He understood right away that it wasn’t a normal occurrence for one to attend a rodent's funeral. He let out a nervous laugh for his ignorance. 

“So attending a funeral for a rat is the weirdest date you've been taken on?”

“Yes, but the funeral bit wasn’t even the weird part. It was actually very well organized. His name was Rat Damon… R.I.P Rat Damon,” she tapped her fist against her chest and kissed a peace sign up to the ceiling. Michael watched the woman in front of him with wonder. 

“Where did the date take its weird turn?” 

“Oh! Okay, so we attended this funeral and we were socializing, you know, talking amongst the friends and family.” Michael nodded along, he was generally interested in where this story was going. “This rat had assets and we went to the room to hear his last Will and Testament. As Cory and I enter the room, my date. We entered the room and out of nowhere, this man came up to us and slapped my date!”

“What?” he was invested. 

“Yeah… turns out the man who slapped Cory, was Rat Damon’s Father. Cory was responsible for Rat Damon’s death”

“Oh my…”

“Exactly! I was on a date with a rat killer. Weirdest part was that Rat Damon gave all his assets to an animal shelter and everyone was so disappointed. Like who was this rat’s lawyer?”

Michael let out the heartiest laugh he’d ever laughed. Something about the randomness of the story just tickled him. He tried calming himself down but the laughter continued to fall out. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you or the story. I’ve just never heard anything like it before.” He had forgone massaging her feet while she was telling her story. He went to start massaging her foot, but Ella moved it off her lap. 

“Trust me I have so many random stories, you have no idea.”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing a few, I’m afraid I’m pretty boring.”

“No one is boring, everyone has their own tick that makes them, them. Want to bounce questions about each other so I can prove to you how boring you’re not?” She scooted closer to Michael. She kicked her feet under her butt ready to prove him wrong. 

“I uh… sure,” he leaned against the booth while facing Ella. “Can I go first?” 

“Of course! Ask me anything?” 

_________________________

  
  


The hour was two in the morning. Michael and Ella had continued to talk amongst themselves and swap stories. They had managed to spend the past two hours turning their stories into a drinking game. 

They talked about random facts and childhood memories. 

Due to the severity of his celestial nature, Michael kept it as honest and normal as possible. 

Ella enjoyed the stories about him and Lucifer’s childhood. And he enjoyed the stories about Ella with her brothers. Once Michael noticed Ella’s slurred speech, he tapped her out and offered the foot massage he promised her. 

They were currently enjoying each other's company with Ella’s legs across Michael’s lap. Ella had her eyes closed and Michael had a smile on his face. 

The night had gone perfectly. He was glad he’d asked her out. He was glad Chloe, Maze, and Linda had agreed to leave them alone. 

Michael rubbed his hand along her knee cap to make sure she was still awake. He knew how tired she must be, but he wanted to make sure she was still breathing. They’d drank a full bottle of champagne along with a few shots thrown into the mix. He listened to her groan as her head moved from the side of the booth. She opened her eyes to find a few people still in the club. 

“Looks like the club is closing…” she voiced. The bartenders went ahead and called for last drinks. Michael looked over towards the dance floor. There were a few stragglers, but he knew the employees would soon kick them out so they could clean. “Do you have to help out at all?” She asked. Michael shook his head. 

“No, I have Kristy for that,” he waved to her as she passed by. “I’m usually just around to ensure no one brings trouble.” Ella pulled her feet back. She scooted over close to Michael and leaned into his side. “Tired my dear?” 

“I am, but I don’t want to leave just yet.” She wrapped her arm around Michael’s and locked their hands together. 

“I take it you had a good time?” He was asking for confirmation. He knew the night was fantastic, he was just waiting for her to say the fate determining words that’d push forward his drive to ask her on another date. 

“It wasn’t just good Michael…” she lifted her head from his arm and smiled up at him, “it was amazing.”

“Yeah?” 

He looked like a child. His hair was going in all directions. His eyes were droopy. His vest was gone. The man besides her, showed no signs of the Los Angeles thug she’d heard so much about. With her free hand Ella ran her hand along his scruffed cheek. 

“Yeah.” She ran her fingers along the white hairs on his chin. 

Michael took his opportunity and leaned forward. They were inches apart before a round of clapping startled them. 

“Let’s go ladies!” Maze called out from the dance floor. 

Michael closed his eyes and turned into Ella’s hand. So much for an opening to kiss Ella. She dropped her hand and looked over to Maze. 

“Let’s go, chop chop! I see you Linda. Get off the table. You have a child to nurse or something.” The demon began clapping her hands together again when Linda wasn’t moving from her spot. “Decker! Decker where are you?” 

“She went up to the penthouse after the last round of shots. I believe she went up for a lie down. I’m taking care of her tonight,” Michael called out. 

“Alright. You got Decker, I got Linda and Ellen. Let’s go Ellen.”

“I’m not ready to leave yet, Maze. You’re a terrible wingman!” Ella pulled her arm out of Michael’s and stood from her seat. 

Michael chuckled from the side and kept his eyes on Ella. He couldn’t believe she still wanted to spend time with him. He fiddled with her sequin skirt as she yammered out something in spanish toward Maze. 

“It’s Ella, Maze. You know this,” she turned to Michael. “She knows this.”

“I think she’s doing it to get you out. It’s fine,” he stood up. “If it’s not too forward I would like to take you out on a proper date next time. That’s if you still find me charming,” he grabbed her hand, “handsome, strong…” he brought her hand to his lips. 

“Ooo using my words against me,” she let out a chuckle. She swung her body side to side and weighed her options. She already knew her answer but she liked watching Michael squirm. He looked down at her with his best puppy dog eyes. “Who could say no to that face? Of course, I’d love to go on another date with you.”

“Excellent! Seeing as I’ve picked this date, I’m allowing you the freedom to choose our next.”

“Are you sure about that? My inner nerd will pop out and scare the living daylights out of you.”

Michael chuckled, “I’m sure fear is my specialty, but I’m sure I can handle anything you throw at me. I know I’ll have fun.”

“Alright…” she pulled her hand out of his and ran her index finger down his chest. “But just so you know you’ll be getting the full Ella package. I’m warning you now. It’s going to a total game changer. There will be no take backsies.”

“I’ll take it,” he opened up his arms and let her body form with his. He understood everyone’s hype about her hugs. They were filled with love and comfort. God knew he needed a hug today and his father directed her into his life. When they two refused to separate, Maze grew impatient. 

“I said let’s go Ellen! The Uber is here. Linda is already in the car and ready to go.” The pair looked down the railing and found Maze with her hands on her hips once again. It felt like Maze was mothering him today. 

“Walk me out?” Ella asked. 

“Sure.” He dropped his arms and made sure to grab her heels. 

“Oh my God! Thank you, I almost forgot about them.” She took them from his hands and put them back on.

“You’re very welcome,” he replied. Once she was standing up right, he offered his elbow for Ella to take. She slipped her arms around his and the two walked down the stairs. 

As they made their way out of Lux, they found Maze yelling at the driver while Linda hung out the window trying to get air. 

“You sure you want to leave with them? I can get you home safely. I…”

“You’ve been drinking, I don’t condon drinking and driving. Plus you have Chlo to watch over.”

“My alcohol consumption is not…” Ella placed her index finger on his lips. 

“Don’t spoil the night.” Michael smiled down at her. She ran her hand along his jaw all the while staring at his lips. “I got to go…”

“I guess you do…” He could see her eyes were on his lips, but for the life of him he couldn’t get himself to lean down to kiss her. 

“Kiss already!” Linda yelled from the car. The two looked off to the side and found Linda looking at them. They both let out a nervous laugh. The mood was lost. She pulled away and yelled something at Linda. 

“I… I gotta go,” she repeated. She began backing up towards the car. Michael followed her until her back was against the car door. Linda was smiling at them from out the window. 

“If you don’t kiss him, I will,” she warned. 

“Down girl,” Michael replied. Linda shrugged her shoulders and leaned back into the car. The two were finally alone. At least without someone inches away from their faces. Maze was still arguing with the driver on the other side of the car. “So… Do I get the pleasure of having a goodbye kiss tonight?” 

“I can’t kiss you if you’re all the way up there…”

He did the honors and dropped down off the sidewalk so he could give her a better height advantage. As his feet hit the blacktop, Ella’s hands were already along his jaw and her lips on his. He hummed in surprise. Within seconds he relaxed and leaned into her kiss. His hands gravitated to her hips and brought her close. Her lips parted and asked for entry. Michael smiled into their kiss and followed her lead. He tilted his head off to the side and deepened their kiss. 

They could hear Linda cheering in the car. They quickly pulled apart and smiled at one another. 

“I,” she let out a chuckle. “I should get in the car…”

“If you insist… I wouldn’t want to give them a show,” he joked. “Hey… can I… Can I get your phone number?” He started patting his body looking for his phone. As he pulled it out Ella plucked it out of his hands and started typing her number into his cell. 

“Make sure to text me so I have your number,” she placed it back in his care. 

“I will message you once you leave,” he looked down at her lips once more. He wanted them back on his. He leaned in once more but the car horn pulled him back. 

“Let’s go!” Maze called out. “I will leave you on the side of the road Ellen.”

“Alright Maze! Jezz…” She laughed. “Seems I gotta go… Bye Michael.”

“Goodbye Ella…” He pulled his hand off her hip and let her open the door to the vehicle. “I look forward to our next date.”

The driver took off before Ella could even respond back to Michael. As they were driving away, Ella stuck her head out and waved to Michael. He shook his head and watched them head down Sunset Boulevard. 

“Miss Lopez you have stolen my heart…” 

As they turned the corner he made his way back into the club.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song that is playing when Michael and Ella lock eyes and time freezes 
> 
> https://youtu.be/WCo1e7HcUVE


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purely text message conversations.   
> Because I’m a leech to Capitalism, I’ve written it according to an iphone pov. The name on the left side is the sender, right side is the receiver. Kind of a little inside view of Ella and Michael’s phone.

**3:15 a.m** . 

  
  
  


**Michael:** I had a nice time tonight 😊

**Ella** : I had a nice time as well 😊

**Michael:** Oh! This is Michael, by the way

**Ella:** I knew it was you silly ha

**Michael:** You never know. Could have been a rando

**Ella:** very true! 

**Michael:** Have you arrived safely at your home?

**Ella:** I have 😊

**Michael:** That’s good. 

Thank you for tonight, I had a lot of fun

**Ella:** No thank you ❤️

You’re quite the charmer you know?

I think I’ll keep you around 

**Michael:** Is that so? 

**Ella:** Yup ha

**Michael:** Then I can’t wait for our next date 😊

**Ella:** My choice, correct?

**Michael:** Indeed. 

Anything but a rat funeral please ha 

**Ella:** Darn… 

Completely ruined my plans haha 

**Michael:** 😂😂

**Ella:** I’ll think of something

Too tired to think at the moment 

**Michael:** I best be letting you get some rest

**Ella** : As much as I’d love to keep texting you… 

I should get some rest. I can barely keep my eyes open

**Michael:** Get some rest, it’s late. 

**Ella:** Will do. 

Good nite Michael 😊

**Michael:** Good night Ella 😊

  
  


____________________________

  
  


**Saturday 11:56 a.m**

  
  


**Ella:** So I’ve been thinking of date ideas…

**Michael:** Yes? 

**Ella:** How good is your swinging arm?

**Michael:** Haha what? 

**Ella:** How good is your swing? 😊

**Michael:** Are we talking baseball or ?

**Ella:** What’s the ? for ? 😮?

**Michael:** Idk haha. 

**Ella:** You know you just won’t tell me

**Michael:** Maybe … ha.

Come on tell me

**Ella:** No! It’d ruin the surprise! 

**Michael:** Alright, alright. 

It’s fair. 

**Ella:** I can work with that. Thank you ❤️

**Michael:** Glad I could help! 

**2:45 p.m**

  
  


**Ella:** Wednesday, date night. 

**Michael:** So forwards Miss Lopez. 

Yes, Wednesday night is perfect 😊

**Ella:** YAY! Ok cool! I can’t wait to see the look on your face.

**Michael:** [attachment sent]

It’s excited ha

**Ella:** That’s now your picture for my contact information! 

**Michael:** Do I get one of you? 

Seeing as it’s only fair 😊

**Ella:** Sigh lol. I guess ❤️

[attachment sent] 

**Michael:** I love the onesie ha

**Ella:** It’s the weekend! 

It’s my leisure wear ha

**Michael:** Oh! I wasn’t picking on you ha

  
  


**Ella:** Good! You better not ha

**Michael:** I’m going to set this as my wallpaper now 

I mean contact info

picture thingy!

**Ella:** Wallpaper you say? ha. 

I’m flattered 😊 

**Michael:** 😅😅

**Ella:** I’m playing with you silly ha

**Michael:** Haha thank you

**Ella:** 😊 

  
  


**4:10 p.m**

**Ella:** Don’t forget. Date night. Wednesday. 

**Michael:** What time? 

**Ella:** 7?

**Michael:** 7 it is 😊. I can’t wait! 

**Ella:** Also, sorry if I’m replying slow

I’m cleaning my apartment

**Michael:** You’re good! 

I’m actually going through my brother’s library

**Ella:** Looking for something?

**Michael:** I am actually ha

I’m looking for an old friend 

**Ella:** In Lucifer’s library?

**Michael:** Contact information ha

He’s a nomad

Hard man to track him

**Ella:** Drifter, got it. 

You know if you need assistance I could always help

**Michael:** I appreciate that 😊

As of the moment I think I have it covered

But I will keep your offer in mind, thank you

**Ella:** No problem! 😊 

I gotta messy closet calling my name 

I’ll let you get back to your man hunt

**Michael:** Have fun cleaning ha

  
  


**9:34 p.m.**

**Ella:** Pssst! 😊

**Michael:** [... bubble]

(read)

  
  
  


**12:47 a.m**

**Michael:** Sorry! 

I’m monitoring the club

I hope my late response isn’t bad 

**Ella:** I totally forgot you were working! 

No, no you’re good! I’m sorry!

**Michael:** You’re up!

**Ella:** It’s a weekend, of course I am ha 

**Michael:** True ha. 

Sorry for the late response. 

You have my attention now 😊

**Ella:** Oh well now it’s just stupid ha 

**Michael:** Haha doubt that. 

What’s up?

**Ella:** Oh… 

I just want to show you my Marie Kondo organization skills ha

**Michael:** Ooo! 

Let’s see it 😊

**Ella:** [attachment sent]

**Michael:** My my Miss Lopez

What a vibrant collection of panties

**Ella:** I sent the wrong one! 

[attachment sent] 

**Michael:** 😂 

Marie Kondo would be proud 

**Ella:** I’m seriously embarrassed now 

**Michael:** It’s fine ha 

**Ella:** Ima go to bed now… 

**Michael:** If you insist ha. 

The cream colored one are my favorite by the way

**Ella:** Good night Michael! 

**Michael:** Good night Miss Lopez 😉

____________________________

  
  


**Sunday** **2:45 p.m**

  
  


**Michael:** May I know the dress code for our date? 

**Ella:** Mmm… casual. 

**Michael:** Casual? 

**Ella:** Yes ha 

**Michael:** Like parties or batting cages casual? 

**Ella:** Batting cages?

**Michael:** Yeah like a athletic ha

Baseball game wear 

**Ella:** Ooo! I’m on to you Mister! 

Nice try! 

**Michael:** Lol, I didn’t even do anything. 

**Ella:** Batting cages Michael? 

**Michael:** What? Haha. 

**Ella:** Mhm 

**Michael:** Alright, you caught me. 

So help, I need to know the dress code 

**Ella:** Casual 

**Michael:** I don’t know the meaning of the word 

**Ella:** … Somehow I believe that. 

Sigh. Fine

**Michael:** 😊 Casual as in? 

**Ella:** Jeans

That’s as much as you’ll get! 

**Michael:** I’ve never played baseball but I’m a fast learner! 😊

**Ella:** Love the enthusiasm! But it’s not baseball ha

**Michael:** So you’ve explained but then why would you bring in my swinging arm. 

**Ella:** Ooo… got me there ha

**Michael:** So baseball? 😉

**Ella:** It’s not baseball Michael ha 

**Michael:** Alright haha. 

**Ella:** I gotta get back to work 🙁

**Michael:** Oh you’re working? 

It’s Sunday… 

**Ella:** Yeah… 

Putting things into the system

**Michael:** Oh. Sorry for distracting you! 

Say Hi to Dan for me 😊

**Ella:** I will! Have a nice day Michael 😊

**Michael:** Have a nice day Ella 😊

  
  


**7:27 p.m**

  
  


**Michael:** Would you like

to get dinner with me tonight? 

**Ella:** [ … bubble] 

(Read) 

**Michael:** My treat 😊

  
  


____________________________

**Monday 6:34 a.m**

  
  


**Ella:** Sorry for not getting back to you! 

Got home and crashed 

Omg Michael I’m so sorry! 

**Michael:** [ … bubble] 

(Read)

**Ella:** Understandable… 

It’s early! You may be mad at me 

Just know I would have totally gone out with you 

  
  


**3:45 p.m**

  
  


**Michael:** Haha good to know

I’m not mad, it was just too early to text 

**Ella:** Oh thank God! 

I'm so so sorry! 

**Michael:** You’re good 😊

**Ella:** I really am sorry Michael 

**Michael:** I know you are

It’s fine, really 

**Ella** : I’ll make it up to you, I promise 😊

**Michael:** Oh you don’t have to 

**Ella:** I want to 😊

Not tonight! But I’ll make it up

**Michael:** Haha if you say so 

**Ella:** I gotta get back to work 

But! Text me at 7 😊

**Michael:** Oki doki 😊

Have a nice day

  
  


**7:46 p.m**

**Michael:** How was work?

**Ella:** LONG. I can’t wait to slip into bed and knock out 

**Michael:** I’ve had a few of those days. 

You know what helps?

**Ella:** What? 😊

**Michael:** A nice hot bath ha

**Ella:** Speaking my language. Nice glass of wine 

**Michael:** Dim lighting 

**Ella:** Relaxing music 

**Michael:** Does not sound like a bad idea 😊

**Ella:** I’ll take your advice. Thank you 😊

**Michael:** You’re welcome 😊

  
  


**9:45 p.m**

  
  


**Ella:** How was your day?

**Michael:** It’s just starting actually

**Ella:** It’s a Monday night, Michael. 

Doesn’t Lucifer close Lux down on weekdays?

**Michael:** He does… 

I’m actually doing something else 

**Ella:** Will you be doing illegal activity?

**Michael:** Me? 

Me doing something illegal with detective friends 

And a forensic cutie who could track my every move? 

**Ella:** Michael

**Michael:** Don’t worry, I’m inside tonight 

[attachment sent] 

**Ella:** Late night reading?

**Michael:** Something like that 

**Ella:** Anything I can help with? 😊

**Michael:** You wouldn’t know how to read Arabic

Would you? 

**Ella:** Nope sorry… 

What are you doing trying to interpret something in Arabic? 

**Michael:** My friend… 

He’s an adventurous little fellow 

I think I found something on him

**Ella:** In the book you just showed me? 

That book looks ancient 

**Michael:** Few decades old… 

He’s pretty old ha 

**Ella:** If he’s in that book I’ll take your word ha 

Sorry, I can’t help. 

  
  


**Michael:** You’re good 😊

Thank you for the offer 

**Ella:** As long as you’re not getting into trouble I’m happy to help 

**Michael:** I appreciate it 😊

I should get back to my books... 

**Ella:** Alright

I’ll take that bubble bath you were talking about 😊

**Michael:** Can I recommend a playlist for your bath?

**Ella:** I’d love a recommendation 😊

**Michael:** Are you okay with oldies?

**Ella:** I live for oldies. How old are we talking?

**Michael:** 40’s?

**Ella:** An old soul. Hit me 😊

**Michael:** Circa 1946 playlist on Spotify. 

I have it playing over the speakers here. 

**Ella:** Frank Sinatra, Dorris Day, Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Billie Holiday! 

I’m swooning 

**Michael:** Swooning? Lol 

**Ella:** Shut it haha

Do you recommend shuffle?

**Michael:** Yes. 

Start with “Misty” by Sarah Vaughan 😊

**Ella:** Is that the song you’re on?

**Michael:** It is haha. 

**Ella:** I’ll play it right now. 

Thank you for the playlist ❤️

**Michael:** You’re very welcome

I’ll let you get to your bath

Have a nice night Ella 😊

**Ella:** I wish you luck on your search! 

Good night Michael 😊

____________________________

  
  


**Tuesday: 6:45 a.m**

**Michael:** Sleep alright?

**Ella:** Like a log ha 

I barely woke up in time for work 

**Michael:** Oh no haha. 

**Ella:** How’d you sleep? 😊

**Michael:** Haven’t been to sleep just yet. 

**Ella:** All nighter? 

I’ve had my fair share of those ha 

**Michael:** Mhm. I dozed off here and there but nothing for too long 

**Ella:** You should sleep

it’s early enough that no one would judge you 😊

**Michael:** Might have to actually

I keep yawning 

**Ella:** Get some sleep 😊

**Michael:** Will do 

Looking forward to our date tomorrow 😊

**Ella:** Is someone counting the days down?

**Michael:** And if I was? 

**Ella:** I’d say it was cute. 

I’m counting the days as well 😊

**Michael:** Casual batting clothes ha. Correct?

**Ella:** Lol stop 

You know what… Dan’s clothing. 

Dress like Dan

**Michael:** Oh! Okay ha

Jeans. Shirt. Is the jacket mandatory?

**Ella:** I’m laughing too hard right now 

No. 

Please don’t raid Dan’s closet 

**Michael:** I won’t ha. 

I do own clothing like that

**Ella:** Good to know ha 😊

I have to drive now. I’ll text you in my free time

**Michael:** Okay 😊

Have a nice day at work! 

**Ella:** Thank you 😊

Have a nice sleep Michael

**11:45 a.m**

**Ella:** Are you at the precinct?

**Michael:** And if I was? 

**Ella:** I’d ask why haven’t you come around to say hi ha

**Michael:** What gave myself away?

**Ella:** Officers are raving about your mustang ha

Everyone rushed outside 

**Michael:** I handed the keys over to Daniel

I’m just walking into the building. 

**Ella:** Did you come to see me? 😊

**Michael:** As a matter of fact, I did. 😊

Thought I could be more subtle ha 

**Ella:** Not with that car ha 

**Michael:** I’ll make sure to fly next time haha 

**Ella:** 😂 

**Michael:** You think I’m joking but I’m serious 😂

**Ella:** Mhm sure 

**Michael:** Are you in your work station? 

I bought us lunch 😊

**Ella:** I’m in the copy room! 

Go ahead and wait inside my work space 

I’ll be there soon 

**Michael:** Sounds good 😊

**1:25 p.m**

**Michael:** You kicked me out so fast I didn’t get to compliment you on your cherry chapstick 

**Ella: 😮**

**Michael:** Lol I did suggest the copy room 

**Ella:** Omg stop ha 

**Michael:** 😉 next time 

**Ella:** Goodbye Michael 

**Michael:** 😂 

Bring the cherry chapstick tomorrow 

**Ella:** Good day Michael! 

I’ll message you when I’m off 

**Michael: 😊** Ok

**6:45 p.m**

  
  


**Ella:** It was nice seeing you today 😊

**Michael:** It was nice seeing you as well 😊

**Ella:** Sorry for kicking you out

I just didn’t want Chloe or Dan to walk in on us 

**Michael:** I understand 

Professional workplace

**Ella:** Exactly! 

But I can do with goodbye kisses 😊

**Michael:** Noted 😊

**Ella:** You know you don’t have to

make up excuses to see me 

**Michael:** Didn’t buy my missing person report? 

**Ella:** Not with a fake name like Gaudium ha 

**Michael:** It is an extreme name huh? 

**Ella:** Where did you come up with that name? 

Sounds like it came from DND. 😂

**Michael:** What is DND? 

**Ella:** You don’t know about Dungeons and Dragons? 

**Michael:** I know of dungeons 

I know of dragons ha 

**Ella:** Nice one haha. 

But no! It’s a storytelling game! The best ever 

**Michael:** Oh! Then no ha 

**Ella:** Another thing to my ever growing list of things I have to get you into ❤️

**Michael:** 😊 Can’t wait

Actually, I’m sorry 

**Ella:** Why are you sorry? 

**Michael:** Most of the things you talk about I know nothing about

**Ella:** That’s fine! 

I know people that don’t know about half the stuff I talk about. 

**Michael:** Oh.

Well everything we talked about today I’m willing to do. 

Clean slate here ha. I’ve been under a rock my whole life

**Ella:** I’m starting to think you have! 

Man, I can make dates out of half the stuff we talked about today ha

**Michael:** I wouldn’t mind that 😊

**Ella:** Oh no! I wouldn’t want to scare you off 

**Michael:** Nothing can scare me Ella ha 

**Ella:** You say that now, but 12 hours of watching Lord of the Rings is a big commitment ha

**Michael:** I’ve once watched a gate for a whole week. 

Trust me when I say 11 hours is nothing haha

**Ella:** What? Why? 

**Michael:** Story for another day haha

**Ella:** Alright, keep your secrets ha. 

**Michael:** Got to keep some mystery to me. 

Wouldn’t want you running off on me 

**Ella:** Using my words on me. 

I see you mister haha

**Michael:** I would hope not at this moment! 

**Ella:** Why what are you doing? 

**Michael:** Currently making myself dinner

I’m failing horribly ha

**Ella:** Picture?

**Michael:** [attachment sent] 

**Ella:** Loving the subtle hint of charde on the chicken haha

What happened?

**Michael:** Kinda got distracted 😅

**Ella:** Oh no! I’m sorry

I’ll pay for a meal to be sent to you

What do you want? Dinner is on me 

**Michael:** Haha no it’s okay!

I’ll just scrap the burnt part off. 

Thank you for the offer though 😊

**Ella:** Are you sure?

I still owe you a dinner

I feel so bad 

**Michael:** It’s perfectly fine 😊

I’ll say that dinner for another time

I just took a bite. It’s an acquired taste haha

**Ella:** That’s it, I’m sending you food

You can’t stop me 

**Michael:** Oh no no

I will send that person right back to you

**Ella:** But your food ☹️

**Michael:** Will feed me for tonight ha. 

Really, it’s fine 😊

Thank you for the concern 

**Ella:** I’ll make it up to you tomorrow 😊

**Michael:** That’s right. Date night 😊

Will we be eating before our date begins?

**Ella:** During actually. I hope your not picky about your food

**Michael:** Nope, not a picky eater at all 😊

**Ella:** Good! 😊

Are you a beer drinker?

**Michael:** Are we going to a baseball game? 

**Ella:** Stop haha. 

Answer my question mister 

**Michael:** So it’s not a ball game?

**Ella:** Michael! Haha

**Michael:** Fine, fine. 

Yes, I drink beer 😊

**Ella:** Favorite brand?

**Michael:** I’m not picky.

I usually drink whatever is on tap

**Ella:** Oki Doki 😊

Ah! I can’t wait to show you this place!

**Michael:** The suspense is killing me ha 

**Ella:** You’ll love it, I promise. 😊

**Michael:** No doubt in my mind, why I wouldn’t 😊

I can’t wait

**Ella:** I got a few things to do

Can I call you?

**Michael:** If it’d be easier for you than that’s fine 😊

**Ella:** Ok! Give me 10 mins 😊

____________________________

  
  


**Wednesday: 6:45 a.m**

  
  


**Ella:** Good morning! ☀️ 😊 

**Michael:** Good morning 😊! 

**Ella:** Get any sleep? 

**Michael:** I did actually 😊

Thank you for the tea suggestion 

**Ella:** Ella Lopez, tea connoisseur 

**Michael:** Haha yes you are 

Heading into work?

**Ella:** Yup, but getting at a late start!

**Michael:** Did you forget your lunch again?

**Ella:** No haha. 

Forgot I had parked my car on the other side of the block

Went out and couldn’t find my car. Ha 

**Michael:** Street sweep?

**Ella:** You know it

**Michael:** [That’sroughbuddy.gif] 

**Ella:** GASP! 

Did you… you you just Zuko me? 

**Michael:** Lol what?

**Ella:** Do you have any idea where that gif is from?

**Michael:** Not a clue 😅

**Ella:** Oh you’re so lucky you’re cute 

**Michael:** I’m cute? ❤️

**Ella:** And now you’re cocky ha 

**Michael:** Not cocky, if I am unaware how cute I am 😊

**Ella:** Mhm

**Michael:** Don’t text and drive!

**Ella:** I’m not! 

**Michael:** Ok ha 

**Ella:** I gotta put my phone away now

BUT! I’ll see you tonight 😊

**Michael:** It’s a date 😊

  
  


**12:12 p.m**

  
  


**Michael:** Will me lady be picking me up tonight?

**Ella:** Oh shiverless knight, aye I will 

**Michael:** Haha on her trusty steed?

**Ella:** Nay

Sir Uber will escort us to our destination ha

**Michael:** Huzzah! 

**Ella:** Lol. I should be at Lux around 6:30 😊

**Michael:** I know it’s cutting it close to when you get off

We can push the date back

**Ella:** Nope, we’re good. 

I’m clocking out early today 😊

**Michael:** GASP 

Miss Lopez leaving work early?

Has my father started the apocalypse? 

**Ella:** Lol ready your horn pretty boy 

**Michael:** I may have to haha

You know you don’t have to cut work short for me

**Ella:** it’s a slow day. 

I have everything done actually 😊

**Michael:** Care to let me take you out for lunch once more? 

**Ella:** You just brought me lunch yesterday 

**Michael:** So? Ha 

**Ella:** Our dates tonight, not now 

**Michael:** It can extend into tonight 

**Ella:** Smooth but I gotta draw a line 

**Michael:** ☹️

**Ella:** Aw! Don’t give me that emoji face 

**Michael:** ☹️☹️☹️ 

[slam effect] 

**Ella:** You’re breaking my heart 

**Michael:** ☹️ Fine 

**Ella:** I so badly want to tell you where we’re going tonight. I can’t risk it! I can’t contain my excitement 

**Michael:** Haha it’s fine 

I know I’ve been bugging you 

I can wait 😊

**Ella:** Good! 😊 

It’ll be worth the surprise 

**Michael:** Dodgers are playing tonight… 

Just a reminder ha 

**Ella:** It’s not a baseball game! 😂

**Michael:** You’re from Chicago 

So I want to say you like the Cubs 

Am I right? 

**Ella:** I’m going to kill you Michael 

**Michael:** You can try 😂

Highly doubt you’ll succeed 

**Ella:** I know how to hide a body 

**Michael:** Can I pick the location? 😂

**Ella:** Unbelievable 😂

**Michael:** So Cubs? 

**Ella:** Yes 😂

**Michael:** Dodgers don’t play the Cubbies… 

But! I’m willing to see a Cubs home game

**Ella:** I am aware of that 😂

You want to go to Chicago?

**Michael:** Why not? We can make a date out of it 😊

Want to go? 

**Ella:** To a Cubs game in Chicago? 

**Michael:** Sí 😊

**Ella:** It’s on the other side of the country!

**Michael:** So? 😂

**Ella:** You gotta be pulling my leg 

**Michael:** Nope ha

**Ella:** I’ll think about it ha. 

We’ll see how well this date goes 

**Michael:** Like it’d be anything but amazing!

**Ella:** Fair point ha

But let me get passed today!

**Michael:** Haha okay okay. 

FYI Dodgers are playing Braves tonight 

**Ella:** Michael! Lol 

**Michael:** Dodgers will win with Mookie’s arm 

The game is in the bag 

I promise not to gloat as my team wins 

**Ella:** [faceplam.gif] 

Pick your scenery now

**Michael:** Woodsy area with a nice tree at my side 😊

**Ella:** Hhaha I know just the place 😂

**Michael:** Just promise to leave flowers for me everyday 😂

**Ella:** I’ll plant a garden over your grave so your body doesn’t go to waste 

**Michael:** Resourceful! 

I love it 😊

**Ella:** I’ll see you tonight, Michael! 

I gotta wrap a few things up before I take off for the day

**Michael:** Alright 😊

Just message me when you’re heading over 

**Ella:** Will do 😊

**6:15 p.m**

**Ella:** I’m 20 mins away 😊

**Michael:** Sounds good! 

I’ll start putting on my shoes and heading down stairs 

**Ella:** Pick you up in front or ?

**Michael:** The front is fine. 

If the driver has to make any u-turns I’ll met you on the side 

**Ella:** Let me ask 

Nope, front will do 😊

**Michael:** Oki doki! 

I’ll be the chap outside with his hands in his pocket 

**6:31 p.m**

  
  


**Ella:** Ah! The driver passed right by Lux

We’re making a u-turn. 

**Michael:** I wondered if that was you ha

No sweat

**Ella:** Loving the grey sweater 😊

**Michael:** Why thank you 😊

Casual enough?

**Ella:** Yes it is 😊

Ok we’re coming up! 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep a look out for the new installment…


End file.
